BB 


OK  CALIF.  L^RARY.  LOS  ANGELES 


THF  FIRST  OF 
HIS  FAMILY" 


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HIGH  GIRL 

OR 

GENIUS  IN  OBLIVION 

AND 
THE  FIRST  OF  HIS  FAMILY 

Two  Stories  of  the  Minute 
BY  DELBERT  ESSEX  DAVENPORT. 


Publiihed  By 

THE  MANTUP  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 
New  York  City,  U.  S.  A. 


2129334 


Illustrations   by   ROY   NAMSORG 


COPYRIGHT   APPLIED    FOR   1919 


HIGH  GIRL 

THE  CHAPTERS 


I.  A  MATE  TO  THE  JINX. 

II.  DEEPENED  MYSTERIES  OF  THE  DEEP. 

III.  LOOKING  FOR  MARS. 

IV.  HIDE  AND  SEEK  AND  THEN- 

V.  A  NIGHT  OF  REVELATIONS. 

VI.  A   DAY   OF   CONFIDENCES. 

VII.  BEFORE  SUNRISE. 

VIII.  SENSATIONS  IN  NEW  YORK. 

IX.  WHEREIN    VICTORY    AND    DEFEAT 

MINGLE. 

X.  THE  SUPREME  SPECTACLE  OF  A  LIFE- 


XI.  HARROWING  HOURS. 

XII.  SO  RISETH  HOPES  FROM  THOSE 

WHICH  HAVE  FALLEN. 


THE   PUBLISHER'S   PREFACE. 

In  presenting  two  of  Delbert  Essex  Davenport's 
stories  in  one  volume,  the  publishers  feel  they  are  giving 
the  lovers  of  extraordinary  fiction  a  rare  treat,  especially 
in  view  of  the  fact  that  Mr.  Davenport  writes  his  every 
novel  upon  an  entirely  original  basis  of  so  much  charm, 
and  dozvnright  usefulness  that  an  "extra  measure"  could 
not  possibly  be  expected. 

"High  Girl"  or  "Genius  in  Oblivion"  the  featured 
novel  in  this  book,  is  the  first  big  effort  to  present  the 
thrills,  romance,  mystery  and  uplifting  education  of  trans- 
Atlantic  aerial  navigation.  The  plot  ground-work  the 
author  has  constructed  so  cleverly  appeals  remarkably  to 
the  ^imagination,  so  much  so  that  little  or  no  descriptive, 
details  are  needed  to  maintain  an  almost  perfect  suspense 
to  the  very  last  sentence.  And,  after  being  royally  enter- 
tained by  the  numerous  intensely  interesting  incidents 
which  accompany  a  daring  American  girl  in  her  determi- 
nation to  fly  across  the  mighty  Atlantic,  the  reader  can  lay 
aside  the  book  and  truthfully  say  something  worth-while 
remains  to  think  about.  Indeed,  the  great  question  is  sure 
to  arise — Is  man's  ambition  given  a  fair  trial? 

"The  First  of  His  Family,"  a  novelette  from  the  same 
pen,  is  a  worthy  companion  to  "High  Girl."  In  this  second 
work  the  subject  of  personal  ambition  is  treated  from  a 
completely  different  angle,  and  it  is  admirably  done  with- 
out resorting  too  much  to  so-called  "fiction  license" 

Since  both  of  these  stories  are  founded  upon  mortal 
aspiration,  it  is  appropriate  to  explain  it  by  stating  that 
Mr.  Davenport  is  the  editor  of  a  national  magazine  called 
AMERICAN  AMBITION,  vvhich  is  devoted  fundamen- 
tally to  exploiting  the  talents  of  unknown  aspirants  in  all 
lines  of  endeavor  and  to  giving  real  practical  aid  to  all  who 
need  and  deserve  it.  The  situations  in  both  of  these  stories 


are  based  for  the  most  part  on  the  experiences  of  Editor 
Davenport  with  various  unusual  cases  wherein  men  and 
women  strive  to  attain  high  goals  in  life.  In  fact,  the 
people  from  whom  the  author  lias  drawn  several  of  the 
characters  in  these,  narratives  have  visited  him  right  in  his 
editorial  offices  in  the  Land  Title  Building  at  Philadel- 
phia, Pa.,  and  gave  him  the  inspirations  to  contribute  these 
two  important  w'orks  to  American  literature. 

We  are  confident  Mr.  Davenport  is  entitled  to  a  sin- 
cere appreciation  for  the  truly  big,  broad-minded  enter- 
prise he  manifests  in  undertaking  to  call  the  attention  of 
the  human  race  so  engagingly  to  a  subject  of  such  tre- 
mendous importance,  for  most  certainly  the  very  life  of 
our  nation  depends  upon  how  lasting  and  Jww  potential 
individual  aspiration  can  be  made  and  sucli  leadership  in 
thought  as  this  author-editor  offers  is  a  positive  requisite. 

THE  MANTUP  PUBLISHING   COMPANY, 
NEW  YORK,  U.  S.  A. 


HIGH  GIRL 


HIGH    GIRL 

CHAPTER  I. 


A  MATE;  TO  THE  JINX. 


HE  HAD  JUST  one  ambition  and  that  was  to  see 
what  kind  of  creatures  inhabited  Mars.  He  was 
anxious  to  ascertain  whether  or  not  they  were  any  better 
than  the  people  he  had  encountered  on  earth. 

His  one  determination  was  to  'get  revenge,  collect- 
ing equally  from  all  mortals ! 

And,  who  was  he? 

Given  C.  Hope,  and,  from  the  very  inception  of  his 
conscious  career,  he  had  not  liked  his  Christian  name, 
despite  the  fact  that  it  was  a  perfectly  good  English  crea- 
tion and  was  entered  in  all  the  standard  dictionaries  as  a 
quick  way  to  say  Gift  of  God.  His  associates  from  the 
earliest  times  he  could  remember  had  taken  an  unkind 
advantage  of  that  name  to  ridicule  him  and  make  him  feel 
uncomfortable.  Now  he  had  lived  a  full  thirty-five  years 
upon  this  mundane  sphere  and  the  completeness  of  his 
failure  in  his  every  undertaking  was  remarkable  for  its 
persistency.  He  was  indeed  a  veritable  forlorn  Hope, 
both  literally  and  figuratively. 

This  singular  mate  of  the  Jinx  took  his  first  peep 
at  daylight  in  the  little  town  of  Kilgore,  Iowa,  and,  in 
doing  this,  made  the  great  mistake  of  his  life.  Even  the 

1 


HIGH    GIRL 

town  where  he  was  born  never  prospered,  never  fulfilled 
the  promise  of  its  youth.  Away  back  in  his  earliest  boy- 
hood he  remembered  the  citizens  of  the  community  made 
a  grade  for  a  railroad  into  the  town.  It  was  a  splendid 
bed  for  a  railroad,  reaching  a  region  which  apparently 
was  destined  to  enjoy  enterprise  and  progress,  but  for 
some  inexplicable  reason  the  cuts  and  fills  constructed  at 
great  cost  of  toil  and  money  were  all  allowed  to  become 
overgrown  with  wee.ds,  vines  and  briars.  The  railroads 
went  to  other  towns,  other  cities  sprang  up  and  flourished 
and  Kilgore  fell  more  and  more  into  decay.  One  night 
the  Missouri  river,  on  a  rampage,  cut  in  and  around  the 
town,  leaving  the  store  and  blacksmith  shop  about  three 
miles  from  the  landing.  The  next  night  the  river  took  a 
new  tantrum,  running  the  main  channel  through  the  main 
street  of  the  village. 

The  ruthless  stream  shifted  again  later  and  Kilgore 
is  only  a  sand  bar  and  a  memory  now.  Where  once  the 
land  agent  reared  his  guide-board  pointing  to  "town  lots 
for  sale"  the  wild  goose  finds  rest  and  shelter  in  the  wil- 
lows of  the  bar  and  the  cottontail  peels  the  tender  sap- 
lings which  have  sprung  up  to  hide  from  mortal  ken  the 
glory  and  the  hopes  of  Hope's  native  town.  The  citizens 
left  in  the  swamp  lands  have  wrestled  with  fever  and 
ague  time  about  until  there  is  little  left  for  disease  to 
fasten  upon.  It  is  said  they  are  becoming  web-footed 


HIGH    GIRL 

and  they  don't  know  anything  excepting  how  to  shoot 
ducks  and  to  come  out  on  election  day  and  vote  the 
Republican  ticket. 

When  the  lad  Hope  was  about  thirteen  years  of  age 
he  remembered  there  was  a  season  of  unusual  heat, 
drought  and  short  crops.  Owing  to  the  scarcity  of  feed 
it  became  necessary  for  the  farmers  to  cut  and  save  all 
their  corn  fodder.  During  the  subsequent  winter,  young 
Hope,  with  the  gearing  wheel  of  an  old  fanning  mill, 
constructed  a  hand  machine  for  cutting  fodder  and  straw 
which  worked  successfully  and  was  a  great  convenience. 
A  neighbor,  who  was  a  carpenter,  visited  his  father's 
farm  and  obtained  permission  to  make  a  similar  ma- 
chine, using  the  boy's  model.  Afterwards  this  very  car- 
penter secured  letters  of  patent  on  the  identical  device, 
which  has  since,  with  some  improvements,  come  into 
use  throughout  all  agricultural  countries,  bringing  for- 
tunes to  those  who  grasped  the  main  chance  by  the  fore- 
lock. 

When  sixteen  years  of  age  Hope,  with  cogs  and 
wheels,  gathered  from  a  junk  pile,  constructed  a  hand 
cider  mill,  later  patented  and  used  all  over  the  country,  a 
machine  the  model  of  which  has  been  but  little  improved 
to  this  day.  At  about  this  same  period  of  his  life  the  boy 
was  compelled  to  gather  apples  in  his  father's  orchard. 
He  discovered  the  finest  fruit  grew  on  the  longest  slen- 


HIGH    GIRL 

der  twigs  and  was  the  most  difficult  to  pick.  With  a 
boy's  natural  inclination  to  save  labor,  and  with  an  in- 
genuity which  seemed  natural  to  him,  he  invented  an 
apple-picker.  His  device  was  a  long  pole  upon  the  end 
of  which  was  attached  a  basket.  A. hook,  worked  by 
means  of  a  lever,  gathered  the  fruit,  dropping  it  without 
bruises  into  the  basket,  which  was  padded  and  lined 
with  soft  elastic  material.  A  boy  friend  of  those  days 
entered  the  patent  office  at  Washington,  D.  C.  some  years 
later,  and  he  was  granted  a  patent  on  this  very  apple- 
picker,  realizing  a  handsome  income  from  a  novel  util- 
ity which  is  still  largely  used  in  all  fruit-growing  sec- 
tions. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  reaper  and  mower  the  most 
troublesome  part  of  the  machinery  was  the  pitman  rod, 
which  was  the  source  of  constant  annoyance  owing  to 
the  breakage.  The  rod  was  a  curved  steel  bar,  neces- 
sarily so  on  account  of  the  manner  of  its  attachment  to 
the  sickle.  At  a  fair  held  in  St.  Louis,  Hope,  then  ap- 
proaching his  early  manhood,  while  examining  the  ma- 
chinery exhibit,  suggested  to  a  man  in  charge  of  the 
harvester  exhibit  for  a  large  manufacturing  concern 
that  by  the  use  of  a  ball  and  socket  joint  where  the  pit- 
man attaches  to  the  sickle  the  rod  might  be  made  straight. 
A  drawing  of  the  proposed  improvement  was  made  and 
the  next  year  it  was  generally  adopted  by  makers  of  harv- 


HIGH    GIRL 

est  machinery  and  has  yielded  fortunes  in  royalties,  not 
a  cent  of  which  went  to  the  originatpr. 

Forsooth  the  experiences  of  this  man  up  to  the  very 
minute  of  his  thirty-fifth  birthday  had  been  always  of 
one  tendency,  to  give  him  the  worst  of  it.  If  he  touched 
gold  it  became  brass ;  if  he  staked  his  money  on  the  ponies 
they  became  as  slow  as  a  New  York  surface  street  car; 
if  he  tipped  his  tongue  to  genuine  maple  syrup  it  im- 
mediately degenerated  into  glucose  molasses ;  if  he  carv- 
ed a  porter-house  steak  it  turned  to  concession  beef ;  if  he 
bought  a  sure-thing  Panama  hat  the  chances  were  that  it 
would  become  a  linoleum  imitation  before  he  could  get 
home  with  it.  Even  moonshine  whiskey — the  sod  corn 
barefooted — apparently  lost  its  stimulating  effect  when 
taken  with  intent  to  fortify  himself  against  the  discour- 
agements of  life.  He  once  invented  a  cocktail  of  superior 
quality,  but  he  had  not  been  able  to  afford  to  taste  one 
of  the  delightfully  refreshing  decoctions  in  ten  years ! 

And,  oh  the  unhappy  upshots  and  off-shoots  of  his 
ventures  in  the  line  of  dallying  with  his  romantic  inclina- 
tions! He  had  ardently  wooed  many  women,  generally 
of  a  low  type  of  intelligence,  and  he  had  received  some 
heart-rending  set-backs  for  his  gallant  efforts  to  find  the 
one  who  could  supply  that  which  he  lacked — luck,  the 
most  elusive  stranger  conceivable  in  his  tortured  brain. 
But,  he  never  found  the  woman  who  cared  to  take  the 


HIGH    GIRL 

matrimonial  leap  with  him,  much  to  his  chagrin.  Even  as 
practically  all  others  could  improve  their  hopes  by  win- 
ning the  right  sort  of  a  helpmate  he  could  not  make 
anything  like  the  progress  of  even  a  snail.  No  member 
of  the  weaker  sex  wanted  this  member  of  the  stronger 
sex  for  the  reason  that  he  was  so  obviously  a  very,  very 
weak  member  of  it.  He  could  not  arrive  even  if  they 
brought  the  place  of  arrival  right  up  to  him !  He  could 
not  accomplish  anything  even  resembling  success.  And, 
yet  he  was  an  inventive  genius  of  the  most  promising 
sort! 

Queer  had  been  his  life  history  and  yet  he  was  not 
at  all  queer  in  character  or  personality.  All  he  ever 
aspired  to  be  was  a  regular  human  being,  with  his  share 
of  happiness,  but  it  seemed  that  neither  fate  or  the  peo- 
ple he  met  wanted  him  to  be  even  this  or  to  have  even  a 
look-in  at  mere  contentment,  and  so,  as  a  natural  trend 
of  events,  he  lost  confidence  in  Fate  and  people,  and,  he 
wanted  to  be  away  from  both.  He  had  come  to  regard 
all  women  as  low  and  all  men  as  lower.  He  could  find 
no  exalted  pinnacle  upon  which  to  place  an  ideal.  In 
fact,  as  the  middle  mile-posts  of  his  life  were  reached 
he  firmly  decided  it  was  to  his  best  interests  to  give  up 
the  battle  so  far  as  ingratiating  himself  with  others  ex- 
tended, and  to  go  it  alone  away  from  the  usual  haunts  of 
humanity. 

6 


GIVEN  C.   HOPE   HAD  ACCUMULATED  A  CURIOUS  OUTFIT  OF 

MECHANICAL  PARAPHERNALIA,  THE  MOST  OF  WHICH 

WAS  PURCHASED  AT  JUNK  YARDS 


HIGH    GIRL 

When  finally  he  departed  from  New  York  City, 
where  he  was  almost  totally  unknown,  despite  his  years 
of  law-abiding  residence  there,  he  was  controlled  by  the 
most  peculiar  determination,  and,  that  was  to  invent  as 
many  of  the  things  the  human  race  most  needed  as  he 
could  and  to  give  himself  the  supreme  satisfaction  of 
fighting  like  a  fiend  to  prevent  this  same  human  race 
from  ever  gaining  one  iota  therefrom.  And,  he  had  ad- 
roitly planned  a  way  to  let  the  world  know  what  he  was 
doing  and  what  he  had  accomplished  without  ever  let- 
ting this  same  world  know  who  he  was  or  where  he 
secreted  himself.  He  was  positively  uncanny  in  his  de- 
sire for  revenge  extraordinary.  He  was  bent  on  making 
mankind  regret  having  treated  him  so  miserably.  He 
had  been  taunted  and  tantalized  without  mercy,  and  why 
should  he  be  merciful  in  return  after  all  he  had  endured 
in  the  way  of  hardships? 

And,  how  did  he  leave  New  York  City?  By  rail 
to  a  point  near  Portland,  Maine,  where  he  had  been  for 
months  shipping  piece  by  piece  a  most  curious  outfit  of 
mechanical  paraphernalia,  the  most  of  which  was  pur- 
chased at  junk  yards  with  the  pennies  he  found  it  so  dif- 
ficult to  accumulate.  And^how  did  he  leave  the  vicinity 
of  Portland,  Maine  ?  By  boat— a  boat  he  had  constructed 
himself.  Nor  was  it  at  all  crude,  being  equipped  with 
two  high-power  motors  and  arranged  to  resort  to  sails  in 


HIGH    GIRL 

case  of  emergency.  Moreover,  it  had  an  excellent  wire- 
less device  of  his  own  contrivance.  To  him  this  was  the 
most  important  part  of  his  whole  layout,  not  for  his  own 
safety,  but  to  serve  as  the  means  by  which  he  could  tan- 
talize the  whole  world  until  it  became  as  desperate  as  he 
had  been  practically  his  whole  life.  Although  his  boat 
was  less  than  a  hundred  feet  in  length,  it  was  thoroughly 
sea-worthy,  and  he  was  prepared  for  a  protracted  cruise, 
having  enough  food  and  water  to  last  him  fully  a  year. 
Undoubtedly  he  was  unlike  any  other  mariner  of  all 
times,  because  he  had  no  fixed  destination ;  he  knew  next 
to  nothing  about  navigation  and  he  certainly  never  in- 
tended to  return  to  his  home  port!  Nor  was  he  seek- 
ing death. 

And,  where  did  he  land?  On  a  tiny,  uncharted  is- 
land somewhere  near  the  Newfoundland  banks,  not  more 
than  two  hundred  miles  out  at  sea.  His  first  year  as  the 
lone  inhabitant  of  this  mere  stepping-stone  to  the  main- 
land was  comparatively  uneventful,  due  to  the  fact  that 
he  devoted  his  whole  time  to  carefully  and  rather  pain- 
fully preparing  to  carry  out  his  strange  project  of  teas- 
ing the  world  via  wireless  in  sundry  ingenious  ways. 
Then  suddenly  mysterious  and  exciting  things  began  to 
happen,  causing  consternation  in  the  most  unexpected 
quarters  by  upsetting  all  rules  and  regulations  as  well 
as  all  traditions  of  the  sea.  But  what  may  we  not  expect 


HIGH    GIRL 

from  such  a  man  as  Given  C.  Hope,  a  remarkable  genius 
with  remarkably  bad  luck?  Would  not  his  resentment 
over  his  protracted  ill  fate  be  sufficient  to  make  him  ac"- 
complish  almost  super-human  wonders  once  he  got  start- 
ed? Is  there  anything  more  impelling  than  resolution 
born  of  bitter  failure? 


HIGH    GIRL 
CHAPTER  II. 


DEEPENED  MYSTERIES  OF  THE  DEEP. 


EVERYWHERE  in  the  vicinity  of  Newfoundland, 
ships  and  coast  wireless  stations  were  sorely  per- 
plexed. For  two  days  the  air  had  been  full  of  extraordi- 
nary messages  of  warning  couched  in  taunting  terms. 
First  it  was  believed  that  a  near-maniac  was  recklessly 
operating  a  wireless  somewhere  in  the  tropics.  Then  a 
message,  manifestly  from  regions  in  close  proximity  to 
Iceland,  would  upset  such  a  theory  and  lead  to  the  con- 
viction that  a  strange  master  of  science  had  come  into 
being  in  some  bleak  and  barren  spot  of  the  frigid  north. 
One  of  the  most  remarkably  puzzling  messages  was 
received  late  in  the  afternoon  of  the  second  day.  As 
picked  up  by  numerous  stations  at  sea  and  ashore  it  read : 

Man  needs  the  scientific  principles  and 
devices  I  am  creating,  but  man  cannot  have 
same.  Sea  gulls  are  more  appreciative. 
Now  worry.  .  .  . 

•  Newspapers  throughout  the  civilized  world  pub- 
lished sensational  stories  regarding  these  puzzling 
"flashes,"  advancing  many  wild  theories  as  to  their  origin 
although  admitting  all  efforts  to  locate  the  sender  had 
been  frustrated.  However,  finally  two  theories  pre- 
10 


HIGH    GIRL 

dominated.  One  was  that  a  practical  joker  had  been 
having  fun  in  a  rather  precarious  manner,  while  the 
other  was  that  a  wireless  operator  had  become  demented. 
There  was  a  lapse  of  several  days  and  then  the  sea- 
faring world  was  startled  by  the  receipt  of  the  following 
warning : 

Nobody  else  but  me  could  know  it,  but  ter- 
rific hurricane  will  sweep  North  Atlantic 
one  month  from  today  and  shipping  will 
suffer  heavily  because  I  am  in  oblivion  with 
inventions  which  would  defy  worst  storms. 
Man  laughed  at  me;  now  I  can  laugh. 

The  authorities  of  several  different  governments 
siezed  upon  this  piece  of  audacity  as  a  test.  Weather  ex- 
perts everywhere  were  ordered  to  take  particular  pains 
to  discover  in  advance  this  predicted  elemental  upheaval, 
but  up  to  the  day  prior  to  the  one  designated  every  official 
report  failed  to  give  the  slightest  inkling  of  any  atmos- 
pheric condition  which  might  develop  even  an  unusual 
squall.  Forsooth,  the  whole  month  was~one  of  the  calm- 
est in  the  history  of  sea  navigation  and  no  expert  could 
find  any  scientific  reason  for  expecting  any  sudden  turn- 
over of  weather  conditions.  Meanwhile,  not  a  single 
supplementary  word  had  come  from  the  unknown 
prophet. 

Then  at  noon  on  the  day  he  had  named  a  most  ter- 

11 


HIGH    GIRL 

rific  hurricane  broke  loose  all  over  the  North  Atlantic  as 
if  it  had  suddenly  arisen  from  the  very  depths  of  hell. 
Ships  by  the  scores  were  damaged  and  ships  by  the  doz- 
ens were  driven  into  distress.  Several  smaller  vessels 
were  wrecked  and  the  shipping  losses  aggregated  several 
millions  of  dollars.  Within  an  hour  after  the  storm 
abated  the  following  retort  came  buzzing  through  the 
air: 

This  is  same  man  who  issued  warning 
month  ago.  It's  proof  that  man's  social 
system  and  wanton  greed  keep  many  of  best 
men  down.  Out  of  all  humans  who  would 
help  in  this  emergency,  the  one  who  could 
do  most  is  down  and  out,  a  miserable 
unknown.  But,  now  who's  loony  ? 

Despite  the  utmost  vigilance  and  a  sea-wide  search 
participated  in  by  practically  every  ship  afloat,  no  further 
intimation  of  the  existence  of  this  mystical  mortal  of  the 
sea  could  be  had  and  the  world — yes,  the  whole  world — 
was  in  a  quandary.  What  a  spectacular  demonstration 
this  had  been  of  what  people  like  to  point  out  as  the 
super-man!  What  an  uncanny  revelation  it  all  was  to 
contemplate !  Was  this  some  great  teacher  bent  on  mak- 
ing all  mankind  see  and  understand  the  foibles  so  com- 
mon? 

No,  it  was  not  intentionally  that.     It  was  a  man 

12 


HIGH    GIRL 

bearing  a  malice  against  people,  and  fate  because  what 
he  knew  he  possessed  in  the  way  of  ability  to  be  useful 
had  netted  him  only  bitter  disappointment  and  sorrow. 
He  was  a  living  example  of  the  principle  that  a  human 
being  must  have  flowers  before  death  if  contentment 
is  to  reign  supreme  over  any  portion  of  this  life.  And 
it — for  we  must  now  refer  to  him  as  it  since  he  had 
succeeded  so  wonderfully  in  throwing  aside  most  of  the 
traits  of  a  regular  human  being  after  living  a  whole  year 
in  seclusion  upon  an  island  thoughtless  man  had  not  yet 
even  noticed — yes,  and  it  was  Given  C.  Hope,  now  one 
of  the  most  stalwart  specimens  of  masculine  power  imag- 
jnable,  truly  a  handsome  man  in  all  the  term  implies,  but 
a  hermit  by  inclination. 

We  must  see  him  immediately  after  he  had  sent 
that  I-told-you-so  wireless  in  order  to  understand  a  man 
driven  to  extremes  by  untoward  circumstances.  Hatless 
he  stood  gazing  out  over  the  turbulent  waves.  The 
strong  breeze  tossed  his  long,  raven-black  hair  almost 
furiously.  His  dark  brown  eyes  of  unusual  large  size 
seemed  capable  of  penetrating  miles  of  distance.  Those 
eyes  must  have  frightened  his  mother.  Although  his 
clean-shaven  face  was  considerably  bronzed,  there  was 
plenty  of  the  pink  of  vigor  in  evidence  on  the  cheeks. 
He  wore  a  light  brown  woolen  shirt  with  a  soft  collar 
which  was  accentuated  by  a  firey  red  four-in-hand  neck- 

13 


HIGH    GIRL 

tie.  His  trousers  of  steel-gray  were  neatly  pressed.  And 
he  was  the  sole  inhabitant  of  the  whole  island  of  prob- 
ably four  square  miles !  He  had  not  seen  a  human  being 
in  a  year,  and  he  intended  to  never  gaze  upon  one  again. 
Fully  six  feet  in  height  and  an  athlete  in  appearance,  this 
man  seemed  formidable  enough  to  go  it  alone  anywhere. 

"Now  let  them  tear  their  hair  in  the  ire  born  of 
ruthless  taunting,"  he  muttered  as  he  kept  his  gaze  fixed 
afar. 

A  sardonic  smile  flitted  across  his  swarthy  coun- 
tenance only  to  be  succeeded  by  an  expression  of  angry 
hatred,  an  inward  feeling  which  was  made  more  im- 
pressive by  the  uncouth  manner  in  which  he  gritted  his 
teeth. 

"They  stole  from  me,  trampled  upon  me  and  even 
denied  me  a  fair  chance  to  be  happy,  and  now  they  are 
suffering,"  he  murmured. 

Nearby  was  his  wireless  station,  not  nearly  as  crude 
an  affair  as  might  be  expected,  and,  it  had  many  curious 
attachments  never  found  on  such  structures.  Those  were 
inventions  of  his,  inventions  which  made  possible  aerial 
ventriloquism  to  the  extent  of  making  it  impossible  to 
trace  the  source  of  his  communications.  His  iron  gaze 
softened  into  one  of  tender  devotion  as  he  turned  it  to 
his  wireless.  Then  he  smiled  rather  whimsically  and  the 
next  minute  he  thought  of  man  again,  flying  straightway 

14 


HIGH    GIRL 

into  a  rage  which  caused  the  summary  death  of  a  sap- 
ling which  stood  at  his  feet,  for  he  yanked  it  up  viciously 
and  hurled  it  with  tremendous  force  into  the  surf. 

"God,  how  good  You  are  to  men  to  spare  them 
from  crossing  my  path,"  he  exclaimed  with  vehemence 
as  he  looked  up  into  the  cloud-laden  skies. 

As  if  to  make  sure  that  the  surging  forces  of  hate 
within  him  would  have  full  outlet,  he  leaped  up  to  the 
lower  branches  of  a  quite  large  tree,  and  deliberately 
tore  it  apart  bough  after  bough,  seemingly  enjoying  the 
destructive  energy  required  in  such  a  herculean  feat. 
In  the  estimation  of  deluded  humanity  this  man  was  act- 
ing insanely.  He  was  what  the  metropolitan  police  re- 
gard as  a  dangerous  character,  a  menace  to  the  safety 
of  the  public.  And,  he  was,  but  he  was  not  as  crazy  as 
one  might  suppose !  He  was  a  real  man  forced  into  the 
position  of  being  unreal  by  conditions  which  he  was 
entirely  unable  to  control.  He  was  only  giving  vent  to 
his  equally  uncontrollable  feelings,  just  as  most  everyone 
does  in  moments  of  aberration.  But,  just  the  same,  God 
help  any  man  who  dared  to  confront  him ! 

Meanwhile,  the  mysteries  of  the  deep  had  been 
very  much  deepened  by  the  curious  mental  gyrrations 
which  led, him  to  electrify  the  world  unaided  and  until 
his  status  could  be  established  it  was  inevitable  that  the 
impression  he  had  created  would  be  indelible  on  every 

15 


HIGH   GIRL 

memory  as  one  of  the  unexpected,  unbelievable  perplexi- 
ties of  a  complex  life.  And,  even  so,  anyone  who  could 
see  him  as  he  lived  on  that  isolated  spot,  would  sincerely 
pity  the  man  burdened  with  the  duty  of  converting  him 
into  a  utility  instead  of  a  mystifying  annoyance. 


16 


HIGH    GIRL 
CHAPTER  III. 


LOOKING  FOR  MARS. 


THAT  night  found  Given  C.  Hope  tactiturn  and  un- 
usually melancholy.  It  was  a  perfectly  clear  and 
calm  night  with  the  stars  shining  brightly.  All  condi- 
tions were  ideal  for  astronomical  observations,  and  a 
man  as  eager  as  he  was  to  get  a  glimpse  of  Mars  and  its 
inhabitants  could  not  resist  taking  chances  in  order  to 
appease  his  appetite  for  inventive  adventure.  He  realiz- 
ed he  always  risked  being  discovered  when  he  dared  to 
experiment  with  his  powerful  radio  searchlight,  which 
had  required  seven  months  of  his  time  to  invent  and 
perfect,  but  he  must  see  who  or  what  occupied  the  un- 
explored astral  body  which  had  for  so  many  years  baf- 
fled man. 

He  had  built  his  own  electrical  plant,  ingeniously 
using  the  mighty  ocean's  power  to  generate  the  electrical 
energy  he  needed,  and  he  designed  a  light  transmitting 
device  which  was  wildly  though  hopefully  calculated  to 
penetrate  the  36,000,000  miles  of  space  between  the  earth 
and  Mars. 

Away  back  in  1892  he  had  been  impressed  by  the 
announcement  that  Mars  then  approached  the  earth  very 
closely  and  that  from  observations  made,  the  theory  of 

17 


HIGH    GIRL 

it  being  inhabited,  while  not  absolutely  determined,  ap- 
peared to  have  received  some  degree  of  confirmation. 
He  now  felt  that  surely  the  Divine  Creator  had  placed 
into  life-breathing  being  some  specimen  superior  to 
the  mortals  with  whom  he  had  been  forced  to  contend, 
and  he  was  convinced  it  would  be  rare  consolation  to  at 
least  be  enabled  to  know  positively  that  such  a  higher 
form  of  creature  did  exist  somewhere  in  the  universe. 
Explicitly,  he  still  believed  in  the  universe,  although  he 
had  lost  all  confidence  in  the  earth  as  man  had  made 
it. 

For  these  reasons  it  happened  he  was  in  his  observa- 
tory from  early  night  until  long  past  three  o'clock  in  the 
morning  and  practically  the  whole  time  he  kept  the  heav- 
ens thereabout  ablaze  with  the  truly  dazzling  shafts  of 
light  he  was  able  to  send  out  with  his  apparatus.  But,  it 
was  all  a  vain  effort :  he  could  not  even  find  Mars,  and, 
finally,  he  became  thoroughly  fatigued.  His  hand  moved 
wearily  towards  the  switch  to  once  more  turn  it  off  in 
defeat. 

At  that  instant  he  thought  he  heard  a  faint  buzz 
new  to  his  ears. 

He  was  instinctively  startled — so  much  so  his  hand 
was  stayed.  He  listened  very  intently  for  a  moment. 
The  buzzing  noise  became  more  distinct.  The  alarmed 
listener  promptly  concluded  he  was  not  suffering  from 

18 


an  hallucination.  But  he  strained  his  hearing  capacity 
to  its  utmost  in  feeble  hopes  he  was  mistaken,  and,  the 
buzz  only  became  the  plainer  until  he  could  not  doubt 
that  something  approached,  even  that  lonely,  out-of- 
the-way  spot.  In  his  excitement  he  forgot  his  search- 
light. He  rushed  out  of  his  observatory  and  mounted 
an  adjacent  ridge,  taking  a  quick  survey  of  all  the  sur- 
rounding water  in  quest  of  a  ship's  light.  But,  no  light 
crossed  his  line  of  vision  despite  the  fact  that  the  buzz 
had  by  now  become  recognizable  as  the  hum  of  a  power- 
ful motor. 

Then  the  startled  man  recalled  that  there  were  such 
things  as  aeroplanes,  and  he  diverted  his  stare  to  the 
skies,  being  soon  rewarded  by  discovering  a  tiny  red  light 
away  above  the  horizon  of  the  ocean.  In  awe  he  watched 
this  light  increase  in  size  until  it  was  nearly  directly  over- 
head, at  which  time  he  could  plainly  hear  the  well-timed 
explosions  in  the  mighty  engine  of  the  aircraft.  At  this 
belated  moment  he  remembered  his  searchlight,  simul- 
taneously being  reminded  that  he  did  not  want  any  mor- 
tal to  know  his  location. 

Hastily  he  ran  to  his  observatory  and  as  might  be 
expected  of  his  luck,  he  experienced  delaying  difficulty 
in  opertaing  his  switch.  In  anger  and  trepidation  he 
yanked  at  that  switch.  At  the  same  time  his  gaze  was 
riveted  to  the  space  illuminated  by  his  light.  Then  he 

19 


HIGH    GIRL 

saw  something  which  profoundly  amazed  him.  It  was 
the  surprised  and  inquisitive  face  of  a  young  woman, 
looking  down  over  the  edge  of  the  fuselage  of  a  giant 
hydro-aeroplane  speeding  through  space  at  the  rate  of 
at  least  a  hundred  miles  an  hour.  It  was  only  a  very 
brief  flash,  but  Given  C.  Hope  was  sure  a  woman  in  a 
seaplane  had  flown  through  his  shaft  of  light,  although 
five  minutes  later  there  was  not  a  single  trace  of  the  ma- 
chine either  by  sound  or  sight,  and,  this  hater  of  peo- 
ple was  once  more  left  undisturbed  to  his  endless  view 
of  water  and  the  groaning  and  lashing  of  the  breakers 
against  his  small  land. 

An  hour  later  Hope  was  in  his  hut  sleeping  soundly. 
He  should  have  been  tired  enough  to  sleep  most  of  the 
morning,  but  just  at  daylight,  he  leaped  straight  out  of 
his  bunk,  wide-awake  and  stared  all  around  the  place 
nervously,  Then  he  frowned  as  he  muttered,  "Curse  a 
nightmare  anyway."  He  yanked  at  his  red  necktie  and 
tried  to  figure  out  \vhy  he  had  forgotten  to  undress  him- 
self prior  to  retiring,  "I  guess  I  am  going  crazy,"  he 
told  himself  as  he  began  to  unfasten  the  tie.  But,  he 
only  began,  because  at  that  instant  he  realized  what  he 
imagined  he  heard  in  his  wild,  fitful  dream,  he  was  now 
actually  hearing.  It  was  that  terrorizing  buzz! 

Almost  madly  he  leaped  out  of  his  hut  and  mounted 
the  nearby  ridge,  fixing  his  gaze  on  the  very  horizon  over 

20 


HIGH    GIRL 

which  the  seaplane  had  winged  its  way  a  short  time  be- 
fore. There  he  beheld  it  listing  dangerously.  .  First  it 
would  seem  to  fall  and  then  it  would  be  forced  to  rise 
slightly  again  only  to  resume  another  rapid  descension. 
One  of  its  wings  looked  to  be  nearly  collapsed  and  the 
wild  course  it  followed  certainly  betrayed  its  distress. 
It  was  evident  the  pilot  was  battling  desperately  to  reach 
his  island,  and  for  reasons  inexplicable  to  him,  this  lone 
witness  to  the  spectacle  wished  she  might  make  it !  After 
all  perhaps  his  hatred  for  humanity  did  not  extend  to 
the  limits  which  would  make  him  relish  seeing  game 
people  perish. 

The  instant  he  realized  his  assistance  might  be 
needed,  he  ran  at  top  speed  to  a  cove  where  his  boat  was 
securely  fastened.  Frantically  he  started  to  make  prep- 
arations to  put  to  sea,  but  ere  he  had  made  much  prog- 
ress, the  giant  plane  swooped  down  on  the  water  within 
twenty  feet  of  him,  and  a  second  later  crashed  into  an 
overhanging  rock  ledge  free  from  the  breakers,  but 
wrecked  and  deathly  quiet.  With  agility  unimpaired  by 
his  trembling  the  man  made  his  way  to  the  crushed  ma- 
chine. The  first  thing  to  attract  his  eye  was  the  pale  face 
of  a  young  man.  His  body  was  underneath  the  heavy 
engine,  the  weight  of  which  had  crushed  the  breath  of 
life  out  of  him.  With  augmented  horror,  Hope  tore 
his  way  through  the  wreckage.  Next  he  hastily  crawled 

21 


HIGH    GIRL 

underneath.  An  instant  later  he  was  searching  the  sand 
all  around  the  plane.  Then  he  stopped  short. 

"My  God,  what  became  of  the  woman!"  he  ex- 
claimed. 

"Here  I  am,  safe  and  sound,"  he  heard  a  sweet,  well 
modulated  voice  reply. 

He  turned  his  face  seaward  just  in  time  to  catch  a 
glimpse  of  a  golden-haired  girl,  in  trim  aviation  trousers 
and  jacket,  racing  through  the  last  breakers  which  could 
reach  her.  Before  he  could  recover  from  his  surprise 
sufficiently  to  answer  or  move,  she  had  reached  his  side, 
paused  and  saluted,  and  raced  over  to  the  wreckage. 

"Oh,  oh,  poor  Matty,"  he  heard  her  moan  as  she 
hastened  to  the  dead  man's  side. 

She  tenderly  laid  her  hand  upon  his  face  and  with- 
drew it  with  a  shiver.  A  moment  later  the  girl  fell  in  a 
heap  on  the  sand  and  wept  bitterly. 

Given  C.  Hope,  glued  to  the  spot  he  had  occupied 
for  fully  two  minutes,  simply  stared  blankly  at  the  tragic 
scene.  He  seemed  almost  in  a  stupor.  Even  his  body 
scarcely  swayed  until  suddenly  the  girl  lifted  her  head 
and  shot  a  reproachful  glance  at  him. 

"Well,  why  don't  you  help  him?"  she  demanded. 

Hope  hesitated  long  before  answering. 

"Even  a  live  man  can't  get  help  in  this  world  let 
alone  a  dead  one,"  he  replied  finally  in  surly  tones,  which 

22 


HIGH    GIRL 

quite  upset  the  girl. 

\  "Sir !"    she   exclairhed   rather   involuntarily   as    she 
arose  abruptly  as  if  to  prepare  to  meet  an  adversary. 

Hope  started  to  reply  and  then  clamped  his  teeth 
together  viciously.  He  concentrated  his  very  big  eyes  on 
her  a  moment  longer  and  then  turned  his  back  upon  her, 
subsequently  walking  leisurely  away.  She  was  too  dazed 
to  say  more.  She  could  only  stare  at  him  in  bewilder- 
ment. Exciting  events  were  coming  far  too  rapidly  for 
her  frazzled  nerves,  and  it  was  a  God-send  that  she  was 
more  stupefied  than  frightened.  However,  she  did 
wonder  what  might  happen  to  her  now  since  she  was  at 
the  mercy  of  this  strange  and  apparently  hardhearted 
man.  Almost  instantaneously  some  of  her  fears  on  this 
score  were  allayed,  because  Hope  experienced  a  slight 
change  of  heart  as  he  reached  the  ridge  which  would  hide 
him  from  her  sight.  He  stopped  and  looked  down  upon 
the  girl. 

"There'll  be  plenty  of  food  and  water  for  you  until 
I  can  find  some  way  to  get  you  back  to  where  you  be- 
long," he  assured  her  rather  gruffly. 

Words  utterly  failed  the  girl,  because  she  was  not 
sure  whether  she  wanted  to  thank  the  rnan  or  hate  him. 
He  did  not  wait  long  for  a  reply,  jumping  down  behind 
the  ridge  suddenly. 

"Well,  what  do  you  think  of  that!"  the  girl  remark- 

23 


HIGH    GIRL 

ed  after  waiting  in  vain  for  the  man  to  show  himself 
again. 

She  stared  straight  into  empty  space  momentarily 
and  then  upon  making  a  cursory  examination  of  her 
plane,  her  gaze  again  fell  on  the  pallid  face  of  her  erst- 
while jovial  companion. 

"Oh  God,  this  is  awful,"  she  moaned.  "And,  to 
think  I  have  no  loyal  pal  left  to  help  me  in  my  battle 
with  that  terrible  creature !" 

Not  lacking  anything  in  lachrymal  ability  which  so 
often  stays  woman  in  good  stead,  she  resumed  her  weep- 
ing. After  devoting  at  least  ten  minutes  to  this  sort  of 
true  relief,  she  dried  her  tears  and  became  indignant. 
Wasn't  this  man  going  to  be  respectful  enough  to  come 
back  and  help  her  bury  the  dead?  She  was  going  to 
insist  upon  giving  poor  Matty  a  decent  burial !  It  was 
an  outrage  for  a  man  to  walk  away  from  a  helpless 
woman  and  leave  her  to  do  all  her  worrying  without  aid ! 
By  all  means  he  must  repair  her  plane,  so  she  could  re- 
turn to  the  United  States !  Thereupon  the  girl  half 
laughed  and  half  cried:  "How  foolish!  What  would 
that  uncouth  man  know  about  repairing  an  aeroplane!" 
she  reminded  herself. 

********* 

For  two  long  hours  this  girl  exerted  all  the  strength 
she  could  summon  in  an  effort  to  clear  the  wreckage  of 

24 


HIGH    GIRL 

her  plane  enough  to  be  able  to  extricate  the  body  of  the 
victim.  All  the  while  she  was  wondering  why  that  live 
man  did  not  return  to  assist  her,  and,  also  all  the  while 
she  was  wondering  why  she  could  not  arouse  herself  to 
the  point  of  going  in  search  of  him.  When  it  became 
evident  to  her  that  she  could  never  remove  the  heavy 
motor  from  Matty's  body,  she  decided  her  one  recourse 
to  be  to  explore  the  island  from  one  end  to  the  other  until 
she  found  her  one  human  hope.  However,  her  re- 
luctance to  abandon  the  dead  kept  her  torn  between 
indecision  and  inactivity  for  another  hour. 

"Well,  I  haven't  much  left  to  lose  and  perhaps  much 
to  gain,  so  here  goes,"  she  ultimately  told  herself  and 
then  she  set  out  to  beard  the  den  of  the  strangest  man  she 
had  ever  met. 

It  was  high  noon  before  the  girl  realized  her  physi- 
cal strength  was  deserting  her.  She  had  tramped  over 
most  of  the  island,  penetrating  thickets  and  scaling  rugged 
ridges  galore  all  with  a  sort  of  numb  nonchalance  so 
far  as  her  own  welfare  was  concerned.  She  had  even 
crawled  into  a  natural  cave  in  her  bold  resolution  to  find 
the  man  she  sought.  She  had  visited  his  hut  and  his 
boat  a  half  a  dozen  times,  and  when  after  all  this  thor- 
ough-going search  she  did  not  find  even  a  trace  of  him, 
she  was  deeply  mystified.  It  was  inevitable  that  she 
should  relax  and  wearily  she  wended  her  way  back  to 

25 


HIGH    GIRL 

her  ill-fated  machine  with  the  idea  of  maintaining  a 
vigil  over  the  departed  one  while  she  regained  her  com- 
posure in  general. 

But  there  was  to  be  no  rest  for  the  time  being  as 
her  first  view  of  the  landing-place  of  the  plane  enlighten- 
ed her.  Indeed,  the  machine  seemed  to  be  quite  righted 
and  Matty's  body  was  gone!  The  girl  felt  her  nerves 
tingle  with  excited  fear.  Something  truly  uncanny,  even 
ghoulish,  had  happened  according  to  her  first  impression. 
She  made  a  hasty  inspection  of  the  machine.  It  had  not 
been  repaired,  but  it  was  placed  in  a  position  which  would 
permit  speedy  work  on  its  various  damaged  parts.  NJ 
one  man  could  have  handled  so  much  weight.  And,  what 
became  of  the  remains  of  the  man  who  had  died  under 
that  weight? 

As  if  guided  by  intuition  the  girl  finally  turned  a 
fleeting  glance  to  a  dell  situated  on  the  highest  land 
some  thirty  feet  away  from  the  beach  proper,  and,  there 
she  saw  a  new  grave  upon  which  rested  a  lone  wild 
flower.  A  moment  later  she  was  kneeling  at  that  grave 
and  not  many  seconds  afterwards  she  had  decided  to  im- 
mediately resume  her  search  for  the  man  who  had  such 
eccentric  ways  of  doing  things.  Quick  action  followed 
the  decision,  and  she  just  reached  the  summit  of  an  ad- 
joining ridge  in  time  to  see  a  red  neck-tie  laying  taut  on 
the  ground.  She  recognized  it  as  the  outstanding  feature 

26 


HIGH    GIRL 

of  the  attire  of  the  man  who  had  treated  her  so  strangely 
and  quick  as  a  flash  she  grabbed  it,  giving  it  an  energetic 
yank  when  she  discovered  it  to  be  attached  to  some  re- 
sisting force.  This  act  on  her  part  brought  a  round 
section  of  the  earth  up  as  a  hinged  door  and  there  pro- 
truding from  the  consequent  orifice  was  the  head  of 
Given  C.  Hope. 

A  quick  wit  came  to  the  girl's  assistance. 

"You  know,  sir,  I  always  hated  loud,  red  ties  until 
I  saw  this  one,"  she  said  to  the  man  who  now  seemed 
rather  disconcerted  because  his  means  of  disappearing 
had  been  discovered.  "Of  course  I  know  you  won't  ask 
why,  and  so  I'm  going  to  tell  you  that  this  very  red  tie 
was  the  landmark  that  helped  me  to  steer  the  course  to 
this  island.  Why,  I  saw  the  crazy  thing  when  I  was 
away  up  over  that  horizon.  And,  I  don't  know  but 
what  I  might  have  heard  it,  too." 

Surely  no  man  could  be  immune  to  this  sort  of 
friendly  vivacity,  especially  when  the  girl  was,  in  the 
vernacular  of  the  classiest  boulevards,  some  girl.  But 
it  did  not  feaze  Hope.  On  the  contrary,  he  resented 
every  word  she  uttered,  and  he  would  have  given  his 
good  right  arm  to  be  rid  of  his  unwelcome  guest  that 
instant. 

The  girl  waited  eagerly  for  a  reply,  and  when  the 
man's  silence  became  embarrassing  she  ventured  another 

27 


HIGH    GIRL 

sally  and  then  another,  but  all  to  no  avail. 

"Gee,  you're  a  funny  fellow,"  she  finally  bantered. 
"What  is  the  big  idea?  And — and—"  as  she  began  to 
lose  her  nerve  upon  noting  how  unchanging  was  his 
piercing,  unfathomable  stare,  "and  what  were  you  do- 
ing with  that  powerful  searchlight  last  night?" 

Hope  took  one  deep  breath,  snatched  his  necktie 
free  from  the  girl's  grasp  and  in  deep,  surly  tones  said : 

"Looking  for  Mars." 

While  the  girl  was  still  gasping  her  surprise  over 
receiving  even  that  much  of  an  answer,  the  man's  head 
dropped  out  of  sight  and  the  heavy  lid  which  he  had  been 
holding  up  with  his  hand,  slammed  shut. 

The  girl  was  once  more  alone  and  dismayed.  Her 
every  attempt  to  force  an  entrance  into  the  secret  pas- 
sageway was  futile.  Fortunately  her  sunny  disposition 
came  to  her  rescue  again,  just  in  time  to  save  her  from 
nervous  prostration,  for  she  actually  smiled  when  she 
said  unto  herself  aloud: 

"Well,  there  does  seem  to  be  at  least  one  pastime  on 
this  God-forsaken  place — I  can  while  away  some  hours 
looking  for  Mars." 


28 


HIGH    GIRL 
CHAPTER  IV. 


HIDE  AND  SEEK  AND  THEN — 


IT  was  another  day.  It  had  been  a  terrible  night. 
The  girl  had  found  no  trace  of  the  man  as  yet, 
and,  she  had,  as  a  last  resort,  appropriated  his  abandoned 
hut,  but  her  sleep  was  seriously  disturbed.  Several  times 
she  was  rudely  awakened  by  queer  noises.  Twice  she 
was  positive  she  had  heard  human  sobs.  Another  time 
she  was  sure  she  bestirred  herself  just  in  the  nick  of  time 
to  save  her  life,  because  she- knew  she  saw  the  form  of  a 
man  run  out  of  the  hut.  Nevertheless  she  maintained  a 
certain  amount  of  stoical  resignation  throughout  all  her 
thrilling  experiences,  and  another  day  found  her  well 
fortified  with  determination  to  get  back  to  her  dear  old 
home  in  New  York  City,  even  though  she  might  have  to 
commit  rash  acts  to  succeed  in  her  purpose. 

The  sun  came  up  early  in  a  plear  sky,  and  so  far 
as  she  could  ascertain  it  was  an  ideal  day  for  flying,  but 
she  was  aware  of  the  necessity  of  having  strong  assist- 
ance before  she  could  even  start  to  fly  under  the  best  of 
conditions.  Where  was  this  man?  Perhaps  curiosity 
had  taken  him  back  to  her  seaplane,  and  so,  she  fairly 
raced  to  the  conveyance  she  had  suddenly  come  to  covet 

29 


HIGH    GIRL 

as  a  means  to  the  end  which  would  conclude  her  days 
of  wild  adventure  in  the  happy  security  of  home,  sweet 
home.  And  she  found  the  machine  apparently  as  good 
and  as  staunch  as  ever.  The  wing  which  had  been 
crumpled  was  perfectly  rigid  again,  and  the  whole  outfit 
had  been  turned  completely  around,  its  nose  pointing  sea- 
ward. Tacked  on  the  propeller  was  a  white  sheet  of 
paper.  The  girl  climbed  down  off  the  ledge  to  see  what 
information  this  would  give.  And,  there  was  a  note, 
which  read: 

WOMAN — First  be  sure  you  know  your 
compass  well,  then  push  button  under 
steering-wheel,  and  you're  off.  Don't  bother 
looking  me  up,  because  it  won't  do  you  any 
good;  in  fact,  it  might  bring  serious  harm 
to  you. — MAN. 

There  was  a  recipient  with  blinking  eyes  even  after 
re-reading  this  note.  "What  a  document  and  what  a 
man!"  was  her  comment.  "And,  what  does  he  mean; 
button  under  steering-wheel — a  self-starter  on  an  aero- 
plane? I  had  no  such  contrivance  when  I  started." 

Investigation  revealed  the  fact  that  her  plane  had 
been  very  much  improved  in  more  ways  than  one,  and 
in  a  surprisingly  short  space  of  time.  Most  noticeable 
of  all  was  a  curiously  frail  iron  rod  which  seemed  solidly 

30 


HIGH    GIRL 

attached  to  the  mere  sand. 

"What's  this  ?"  the  girl  asked  herself  as  she  scrutin- 
ized the  new  addition  to  her  property.  When  she  found 
she  could  not  budge  the  rod  she  answered  herself:  "I 
don't  know."  As  if  guided  by  some  kind  spirit  she 
climbed  up  into  the  fuselage  and  there  pinned  to  the 
seat  was  another  note.  This  one  read : 

Oh  yes,  I  forgot  to  tell  you  that  you  must 
pull  the  lever  to  your  right  before  you  can 
start  at  all.  However,  of  course,  your 
engine  can  be  going  its  merriest  before- 
hand. 

A  pair  of  feminine  eyes  blinked  some  more.  "Gee, 
am  I  dreaming?"  queried  a  feminine  tongue.  And,  in 
a  jiffy  that  tongue  fairly  wagged.  "For  the  love  of 
Pete,  who  is  this  guy !  If  he's  not  plumb  crazy,  he's 
somewhat  of  a  genius.  Why,  if  these  things  will  work, 
they'll  make  flying  a  pleasure  instead  of  a  danger.  There's 
no  use  talking  (to  myself),  before  I  leave  this  dump  in 
the  ocean  I've  got  to  get  better  acquainted  with  this 
queer  man.  We  may  need  him  very  much  back  in  the 
States." 

Impulsiveness  was  a  second  nature  with  this  girl, 
and,  without  going  a  single  step  further  with  her  inspec- 
tion of  the  machine,  she  leaped  up  the  ridge  and  trotted 

31 


HIGH    GIRL 

from  shore  to  shore  on  that  island,  calling  ""Man"  at  the 
top  of  her  voice!  Two  hours  of  this  earnest  endeavor 
netted  her  a  grand  total  of  "nothing  doing,"  as  she  ex- 
pressed it,  but  she  would  persevere. 

It  was  another  noonday,  before  she  had  seen  any- 
thing which  resembled  reward,  and  this  was  only  a  piece 
of  red  cheese-cloth  wafted  aimlessly  by  the  breezes. 
But,  as  bitter  as  was  this  disappointment,  she  would  not 
give  up — she  continued  to  look  for  the  man  she  must 
interview  to  her  heart's  content  before  she  would  even 
think  of  flying  away  from  his  sphere. 

Right  in  the  middle  of  the  afternoon  in  the  midst 
of  her  chase,  this  same  girl  became  obsessed  with  the 
idea  that  she  should  hide,  and  she  did — right  in  the  very 
cave  she  had  previously  explored.  A  full  half  an  hour 
she  laid  on  her  stomach  and  was  thereby  notified  of  its 
emptiness.  She  recalled  her  rough  host's  promise  of 
food  and  she  resolved  to  force  him  to  make  good.  Just 
as  she  was  in  the  act  of  crawling  out  of  the  cave,  she 
heard  the  crunching  sound  of  footsteps  in  adjacent 
gravel.  She  paused  cautiously,  raising  her  head  in  an 
attempt  to  survey  the  outer  surroundings  of  the  cave's 
entrance.  The  feet  seemed  to  approach  and  she  waited. 
How  long  she  waited,  hearing  the  unmistakable  foot- 
tread  all  the  while,  she  did  not  realize,  but  it  was  con- 
siderably more  than  another  half  an  hour. 

32 


HIGH    GIRL 

"How  strange,"  the  perplexed  girl  finally  muttered. 
"He  must  be  walking  around  in  a  circle.  It's  up  to  me  to 
find  out  what's  wrong  with  this  gink." 

So  she  abandoned  caution,  climbing  right  up  to  the 
highest  point  in  the  vicinity,  and  she  did  not  see  a  single 
sign  of  a  human  being  nor  did  the  footsteps  discontinue 
as  she  suspected  they  would !  Now  she  was  nonplussed. 
Perplexity  soon  succumbed  to  intensified  dread.  Her 
desire  to  meet  this  man  again  was  suddenly  submerged 
in  the  apprehension  that  she  might  encounter  him  once 
too  often.  But  she  was  hungry  and  besides  she  could 
not  endure  the  almost  maddening  regularity  with  which 
those  invisible  feet  continued  to  advance  over  the  gravel 
right  under  her  very  nose.  Hence  she  fled  from  the  spot 
as  if  her  life  depended  upon  super-human  celerity.  Just 
why  the  hut  was  her  objective  is  difficult  to  comprehend, 
but  she  was  inside  that  crude  structure  within  three  min- 
utes and  there  was  a  piping-hot  dinner  all  ready  for  her ! 

"Say,  this  fellow  is  a  mind-reader,"  she  soliloquized 
as  a  feeling  of  gratitude  and  reassurance  swept  over  her. 

She  lost  little  time  in  getting  down  to  the  home- 
made table,  and  the  way  she  devoured  food  was  anything 
but  conventional.  As  she  ate  she  marveled  at  the  excel- 
lence of  the  cuisine.  There  was  an  abundance  of  hot 
corned  beef  mixed  with  a  most  palatable  vegetable,  which 
at  least  resembled  cabbage.  There  were  hot  boiled  beans 

33 


HIGH    GIRL 

well  seasoned  with  a  sauce  new  to  her,  and  there  was 
a  dish  she  took  to  be  fruit  salad,  together  with  good 
black  coffee  and  fresh  corn  bread.  There  was  all  of 
this  when  the  near-starved  girl  sat  down,  but  there  was 
not  a  semblance  of  any  of  it  left  when  she  had  finished. 

Wholesome  food  is  the  most  efficacious  of  all 
stimulants,  and  this  meal  put  new  vigor  and  nerve  into 
this  girl.  With  her  ravenous  appetite  appeased  and 
feeling  much  refreshed,  she  became  exceedingly  deter- 
mined to  find  her  benefactor  instanter.  But  .she  changed 
her  tactics,  resolving  to  try  a  clever  subterfuge  to  at- 
tract him  from  his  hiding-place.  So  she  walked  hastily 
to  her  seaplane,  pausing  to  study  for  a  moment.  Presently 
she  crawled  underneath  and  did  her  best  to  make  herself 
appear  to  be  pinioned  under  the  edge  of  one  of  the  heavy 
pontoons.  As  soon  as  she  was  satisfied  with  the  pre- 
tended precariousness  of  her  predicament  she  began 
screaming  lustily.  Forsooth,  she  yelled  for  help  until 
she  became  decidedly  hoarse  and  eventually  she  had  to 
desist  her  vocal  efforts  out  of  sheer  exhaustion.  Much 
disappointed  over  the  lack  of  results  she  rolled  away 
from  the  pontoon,  buried  her  head  in  her  arms  and  wept 
convulsively.  And,  she  cried  herself  to  sleep  unmindful 
of  a  rising  tide. 

Fifteen  minutes  later  she  awakened  to  find  herself 
pretty  much  surrounded  by  a  menacing  sea.  In  arising 

84 


HIGH    GIRL 

to  her  feet  she  became  confused  and  lost  her  footing, 
rolling  seaward.  A  powerful  undertow  caught  her  and 
dragged  her  far  out  despite  her  frantic  struggling.  She 
managed  to  take  a  quick  survey  of  the  shore  as  she  was 
dragged  away  from  it,  and  her  heart  sank  in  despair 
when  she  failed  to  find  the  man  there  ready  to  rescue 
her. 

For  many  minutes  this  comparatively  frail  girl 
battled  with  the  tempestuous  currents  always  in  a  desper- 
ate effort  to  keep  as  close  to  land  as  possible.  By  exert- 
ing her  supreme  strength  she  managed  to  swim  her  way 
around  to  the  extreme  northern  end  of  the  island.  There 
she  espied  the  man  she  had  searched  for  so  many  hours. 
He  was  sitting  on  a  promontory  with  his  face  buried  in 
his  hands.  The  girl  summoned  all  her  remaining  strength 
to  scream  for  help.  It  was  a  shrill,  terrifying  scream. 
He  heard  it  and  sighted  the  distressed  one.  Promptly 
he  went  into  the  surf,  reaching  her  just  as  she  felt  her 
consciousness  ebbing  away  from  her. 

When  she  regained  her  senses  the  girl  found  her- 
self wrapped  in  a  blanket  and  lying  on  a  bunk  in  the 
hut.  The  man  was  sitting  calmly  beside  her,  gazing  in- 
tently into  her  eyes. 

"Well,"  she  exclaimed  jovially.  "I  see  the  sea  is 
better  at  finding  you  than  I  am." 

"You  should  have  known  better  than  to  go  in  bath- 

35 


HIGH    GIRL 

ing  alone  in  such  a  rough  sea,"  he  remarked  rather 
caustically  without  heeding  her  buoyancy  of  spirit. 

"I  didn't  go  in — I  was  taken  in  over  my  protests." 

"Who  is  there  here  to  take  you  in  except  me?"  he 
snapped. 

"Why,  didn't  you  know  he  was  here?"  she  asked 
with  feigned  surprise. 

"Who?" 

"Mr.  Undertow  of  Ocean,"  she  replied  with  a  merry 
twinkle  in  her  eyes. 

"Listen,  I  don't  like  people  or  their  jokes,"  he  warn- 
ed most  solemnly.  "And  I've  just  figured  out  how  I 
can  use  you  to  make  my  dislikes  better  known  among  all 
peoples." 

"That  sounds  interesting  even  if  it  is  ridiculous," 
was  the  girl's  bold  rejoinder.  "How  can  you  use  me?" 

"I'm  going  to  show  you  what  I  can  do  and  then 
you're  going  to  fly  back  to  America  and  rave  about  me," 
he  announced. 

"Me  rave  about  you  or  any  other  man?  Never! 
I'd  choke  first." 

He  eyed  the  girl  a  trifle  sternly.  He  was  not  im- 
pressed by  her  precocious  words. 

"I'll  wager  you're  a  suffragette,"  he  suggested  after 
noting  her  smile  had  vanished. 

"You  bet  I  am  and  I'm  militant  too,"  she  admitted 

36 


HIGH    GIRL 

enthusiastically.  "But  what  has  that  to  do  with  this 
proposition  you  have  in  mind?" 

"Nothing,"  he  replied  and  after  a  pause  continued, 
"excepting  it  is  one  more  reason  why  I  want  to  hurry 
and  get  rid  of  you." 

"I'd  like  to  say  something  back,  but  I  won't,"  she 
snapped  saucily.  "Anyway,  as  I  seem  to  be  destined  to 
early  deportation  I'll  have  to  hurry  to  finish  all  the  ques- 
tions I've  got  to  ask  about  funny  noises  such  as  foot- 
steps and  things." 

"You  needn't  trouble  yourself  tio  askj  -even  one 
question." 

"Not  even  your  name?"  she  interrupted. 

"No." 

"Well,  I  wouldn't  be  that  stingy,"  she  reproached. 
"I'll  tell  you  my  name  without  your  asking  even.  It's 
Gwen  Dale — that's  me  and — " 

A  vicious  wave  of  the  man's  hand  was  enough  to 
silence  her. 

"Trivialities  are  unnecessary  and  there's  no  time  to 
be  lost,"  he  declared.  "I  want  you  back  in  the  United 
States  by  day  after  tomorrow." 

"But,  do  you  know,  that's  not  where  I  was  origi- 
nally bound  for?"  she  almost  demanded. 

"I  don't  care,"  he  answered  back  in  surly  tone. 

"Just  the  same  I'm  goin^  to  tell  you  that  poor  Matty 

37 


HIGH   GIRL 

and  i  were  headed  for  Europe  when  something  went 
wrong  with  the  engine  and  I  beat  it  back  for  your  search- 
light. ,1  want  to  be  the  first  woman  to  pilot  an  aeroplane 
across  the  Atlantic — that's  my  supreme  ambition." 

"Ambition!"  the  man  exclaimed  as  he  arose  to  his 
feet  with  an  abruptness  which  denoted  anger. 

"Yes,  ambition,"  the  girl  repeated.  "What's  the 
matter  with  that?" 

Given  C.  Hope  paced  the  floor  fiercely  for  a  full 
minute.  Unhappy,  even  maddening  memories  crowded 
his  brain.  After  he  had  knocked  a  chair  over,  he  stop- 
ped short,  faced  the  girl  who  had  raised  herself  to  a  sit- 
ting position,  due  to  fear,  and  spoke  deliberately  in  gut- 
teral  tones  as  he  shook  his  fist  ominously  : 

"Ambition !  The  most  damnable  curse  of  anyone's 
life  unless  there  is  some  fool  luck  to  help  out." 

"Quite  true,  but  why  get  mad  about  it?"  she  put  in, 
quickly  regaining  her  composure. 

"Because  that's  the  thing  that  has  driven  me  mad — 
it  is  that  thing  because  humanity  is  thoughtless  and  cruel 
by  nature — because,  but  why  am  I  making  a  speech  to 
you?  All  I  need  to  do  is  show  what  a  mistake  men  and 
women — and  the  whole  social  system,  has  made  in  ignor- 
ing me  and  scorning  me,  in  stealing  from  me  and  denying 
me  a  chance  to  overcome  my  difficulties.  I  am  going  to 
show  you  a  dozen  devices — creations  of  my  muddled 

38 


HIGH    GIRL 

brain — devices  mankind  absolutely  must  have  to  prevent 
the  oncoming  degeneration.  I  am  going  to  show  you  why 
humanity  will  never  get  an  opportunity  to  profit  by  or  to 
even  see  a  single  achievement  of  mine.  Then  you're  go- 
ing back  to  civilization  and  rave  about  me,  but  it  will  all 
be  in  vain,  for  you  or  no  one  else  will  ever  see  me  again." 

Hope's  face  was  firey-red  when  he  finished  his  de- 
nunciatory declaration  of  purpose.  The  muscles  in  his 
swarthy  face  twitched  as  he  contemplated  the  girl.  He 
was  obviously  boiling  over  with  resentment  and  grim  if 
not  even  malicious  resolution.  His  whole  attitude  was 
that  of  one  bent  on  attaining  revenge. 

Gwen  Dale  was  too  dumfounded  to  utter  a  sound. 
She  had  been  totally  unprepared  for  such  a  forensic  de- 
tonation. She  never  dreamed  this  man  could  talk  so 
much  and  so  well.  She  realized  she  admired  his  spunk 
if  not  his  ideas.  She  could  easily  discern  the  great  power 
he  had  developed  within  his  very  soul,  for  he  spoke  from 
a  deeper  source  than  the  heart.  And,  as  she  watched 
him  standing  there  in  that  barren  room,  clenching  his  fists 
convulsively  she  made  a  mental  note  of  his  strong  manly 
features.  He  was  really  handsome  until  those  big 
frightening  eyes  of  his  flashed  and  then  he  was  rather 
repulsive.  She  wondered  how  a  man  could  have  such 
artistically  curved  and  decidedly  ruby  lips  as  his  and  then 
as  he  started  to  speak  again  she  observed  the  perfect 

39 


HIGH    GIRL 

white  teeth  he  had. 

"Now,  you  may  have  all  the  privacy  you  desire  in 
this  home  of  mine,"  he  continued  in  low,  mild  tones.  "I 
would  suggest  that  you  use  my  overalls  there  while  your 
clothes  are  drying.  I'll  return  for  you  an  hour  from  now 
and  then  you  shall  see  all  the  damnation  of  ambition  you 
could  relish." 

With  these  words  Hope  stalked  out  of  the  hut. 

Gwen  Dale  blinked  her  eyes  again  and  again.  She 
wondered  if  she  had  been  dreaming,  and  if  she  was  really 
in  her  Riverside  Drive  apartment  after  all.  One  glance 
at  the  ceiling  of  rough  bark  convinced  her  she  was  right 
where  she  was,  on  the  verge  of  seeing  the  inner  portals 
of  a  man's  soul,  such  as  few  girls  are  ever  privileged  to 
view,  and,  in  a  state  of  keen  anticipation,  she  proceeded 
to  prepare  to  don  his  overalls. 


40 


HIGH    GIRL 
CHAPTER  V. 


A  NIGHT  OF  REVELATIONS. 


The  shades  of  night  had  fallen  when  Given  C.  Hope 
called  at  his  hut  for  Gwen  Dale.  She  was  attired  in  his 
overalls,  which  were  several  times  too  large  for  her. 
He  still  wore  the  one  outfit  in  which  she  had  seen  him, 
including  the  red  necktie,  but  his  hair  was  more  neatly 
combed. 

"It's  just  as  well  that  you're  wearing  overalls  to- 
night," he  said.  "You  may  be  around  a  lot  of  grease." 

"Well,  I'm  glad  I  pass  muster,  because  I  feel  like  a 
fright,"  she  replied  as  she  scanned  her  costume. 

"Come  on,"  was  his  succinct  response  as  he  led  the 
way  out  the  door. 

Either  on  account  of  her  curiosity  or  for  fear  of 
arousing  her  escort's  ire,  Gwen  deemed  it  advisable  to 
make  reticence  her  stock  in  trade  from  the  inception  on 
this  occasion.  She  seemed  to  divine  that  the  man  wanted 
to  do  most  of  the  talking.  However,  his  utterances  dur- 
ing a  twenty-minute  stroll  were  few  and  far  apart.  He 
was  apparently  more  morose  than  ever.  He  was  inclined 
to  keep  very  deeply  engrossed  in  studious  thoughts. 
Withal  he  had  the  air  of  one  entirely  confident  and  sure 
of  himself. 

41 


HIGH    GIRL 

The  first  place  he  took  the  girl  was  to  his  observa- 
tory. Immediately  he  moved  a  switch  and  a  dazzling 
light  shot  into  the  heavens.  He  directed  his  guest  to  look 
into  a  brass-lined  telescope  of  not  more  than  twelve 
inches  in  length.  Then  he  pushed  a  button,  simultaneous- 
ly adjusting  what  looked  like  a  lens. 

"Great  guns!"  she  exclaimed. 

"What's  the  matter?"  he  asked  naively. 

"I'm  seeing  Mary  Pickford  in  movies,"  she  asserted. 

"Correct!  And,  a  planet  some  millions  of  miles 
away  is  the  screen  upon  which  you're  seeing  the  picture." 

"Impossible!"  the  girl  gasped  in  her  irrepressible 
amazement. 

"All  right,"  he  retaliated.  "See  this  glass  slide?" 
He  held  it  aloft.  "I'll  flash  it  New  Yorkwards.  It'll  be 
visible  there  high  in  the  air." 

The  next  instant  the  girl  saw  emblazoned  on  the 
sky-line  afar  the  following  sign, 

HAVE  HOPE! 
THE  BEST  YET! 

"What  you  read  now,  you  will  read  one  week  from 
tonight  from  your  own  home  window,  for  I  will  flash  it 
again  on  that  night  from  here,"  he  announced. 

"Well,  I'll  be  darned,"  was  her  comment. 

"It's  something  new,  making  possible  long-distance 

42 


HIGH    GIRL 

advertising  or  long-distance  bulletin  service,"  he  explain- 
ed. "Wouldn't  mankind  like  to  have  such  a  marvelous 
utility  ?" 

"I  should  say  so,"  she  agreed. 

"Well,  mankind  will  never  get  a  chance  to  make  use 
of  my  device.  Come  on." 

Thereupon  he  turned  off  his  switch  and  all  was 
darkness. 

Ten  minutes  later  the  couple  stood  at  the  entrance 
to  the  cave  in  which  the  girl  had  hidden  during  the  day. 
The  man  pursed  his  lips.  The  girl  responded  by  remain- 
ing motionless.  A  moment  later  she  heard  those  myster- 
ious footsteps  in  the  gravel  again.  At  first  she  felt  her- 
self getting  nervous,  for  it  was  an  unpleasant  gritting 
sound. 

"What  is  that?"  she  asked  with  emphasis. 

"That's  the  forces  of  the  earth  harnessed  to  my  will 
through  scientific  principles  _with  which  I  am  alone  fa- 
miliar," he  informed  her.  "You  see  it  stops  when  I  raise 
my  foot  from  this  steel  plate."  He  raised  his  foot  and 
there  was  dead  silence  instantly.  "Now  I  step  on  the 
plate  again  and  the  action  is  resumed."  He  replaced  his 
foot  on  the  plate  and  the  grinding  noise  started  all  over. 

"Remarkable !"  she  exclaimed.  "And  do  you  know 
when  I  heard  that  today  I  thought  it  was  you  coming 
my  way  at  last?" 

43 


HIGH    GIRL 

"It's  far  more  important." 

"What  is  it?" 

"Intensive  gravity,  I  term  it." 

"What  use  can  be  made  of  it?" 

"Unlimited  power — tons  and  tons  of  it — all  the  dead 
weight  of  this  island  is  now  generated,  inverted  and  con- 
centrated into  fifteen  square  feet  here." 

"How  do  you  do  it  ?"  she  blurted  right  out  still  unim- 
pressed by  the  fact  that  this  man  was  exceedingly  sensi- 
tive. 

"That's  my  secret,"  he  snapped  rather  savagely. 

"Pardon  the  inquisitive  woman,"  she  begged 
promptly. 

He  paid  no  attention  to  her  apology.  Instead  he 
continued : 

"Through  this  medium  a  highly  explosive  condition 
could  be  created.  I  could  blow  up  this  entire  island  with 
this  natural  force." 

Gwen  Dale  shivered.  This  was  .information  such  as 
would  make  anyone  uncomfortable. 

"But,  there  are  peaceful  and  useful  ways  this  power 
can  be  engaged  to  help  man  with  his  more  arduous  tasks 
wherein  great  weights  are  involved,  such  as  moving  heavy 
machinery  and  even  buildings,"  he  finished  and  thereupon 
the  grinding  noise  ceased. 

After  a  long,  rough  journey  to   the    ocean's    edge, 

44 


HIGH    GIRL 

where  Hope  filled  a  tin  bucket  with  salt  water,  he  took  the 
girl  to  a  dugout  well-lighted  by  electricity.  He  called  her 
attention  to  a  white  stone  vat  in  which  there  was  a  large 
quantity  of  bone-dry  substance  resembling  fine  gravel. 
•While  she  still  peered  into  this  receptacle  he  dashed  the 
water  into  it.  Immediately  he  placed  the  bucket  under 
a  spigot  at  the  bottom  of  the  tank  and  allowed  the  fluid 
to  flow  in  until  the  original  sediment  was  thoroughly 
drained.  Taking  the  bucket  he  beckoned  the  girl  to  fol- 
low him.  Upon  reaching  a  knoll  some  fifty  feet  away, 
he  deposited  it  on  the  ground  and  walked  twenty  feet 
away,  pulling  the  girl  along  with  him.  Then  he  took 
from  his  pocket  a  small  piece  of  flare  which  he  lighted 
and  flung  at  the  bucket.  It  fell  on  the  ground  at  least  a 
foot  short  of  its  mark,  but  a  spark  was  seen  to  fly 
therein.  Instantly  there  was  a  surprisingly  terrific  ex- 
plosion. A  hot  wave  hit  the  girl's  face  and  she  blinked 
her  eyes  very  rapidly  as  she  staggered  back. 

"Gee!"  she  exclaimed,  as  she  realized  she  was  un- 
hurt. 

"It's  better  than  the  best  gasoline  and  it  costs  vir- 
tually nothing  in  time  and  money  to  manufacture,"  he 
remarked  quietly. 

"Oh  yes,  I  remember  reading  about  something  like 
it,"  she  declared.  "It  was  reported  the  Standard  Oil 
Company  paid  a  million  dollars  to  keep  the  stuff  off  the 

45 


HIGH    GIRL 

market." 

"I  doubt  the  story,"  he  replied,  "but  no  one  will  ever 
have  a  chance  to  offer  me  a  penny  for  my  formula." 

So  saying  he  walked  leisurely  away  without  even 
bidding  his  guest  to  follow,  but  she  followed  just  the 
same. 

It  was  not  many  minutes  later  that  the  pair  stood  at 
Hope's  wireless  station. 

"Now,  I'rri  going  to  worry  humanity  a  little,"  he  an- 
nounced as  he  began  scribbling  on  a  sheet  of  paper.  "An- 
other mysterious  message  shall  go  forth  to  set  the  world 
by  its  ears." 

Right  then  and  there  it  dawned  on  Gwen  Dale  that 
the  several  queer  communications  which  had  stirred  the 
populace  everywhere,  due  to  the  sensational  manner  in 
which  the  newspapers  had  "played  up"  the  story,  eman- 
ated from  the  very  spot  she  that  minute  occupied. 

"Now  it  is  getting  interesting,"  she  mentally  told 
herself.  Then  she  realized  he  had  thrust  the  sheet  of 
paper  into  her  hands.  Even  as  she  perused,  he  was  op- 
erating a  curious  sending  key  and  there  was  a  crackling 
in  the  air  all  around  her.  And,  here  is  what  she  read : 

Gwen  Dale,  American  aviatrix,  maroon- 
ed in  air  near  Azores,  her  plane  hanging 
stationary  3,000  feet  above  ocean.  Some 

46 


HIGH    GIRL 

fool  inventor  put  new  attachment  on  ma- 
chine; she  doesn't  know  how  to  operate  it. 
She  is  determined  to  get  back  to  New  York 
day  after  tomorrow.  Don't  queer  people 
live  in  oblivion  though ! 

"Say,  what's  the  joke?"  she  demanded  aloud. 

"Won't  it  be  a  joke!"  he  replied  guilelessly,  as  he 
increased  his  efforts  at  his  key.  "And,  the  best  part  of 
the  joke  is,  all  the  erudite  experts  will  swear  the  mes- 
sage came  direct  from  the  Azores." 

Gwen  Dale  was  actually  stunned.  She  simply  could 
not  find  her  tongue.  She  knew  she  was  witnessing 
genius  in  action.  She  could  only  stare  at  the  man  whose 
intentions  she  still  doubted.  He  now  looked  decidedly 
repulsive  to  her,  despite  his  proven  ability  for  doing 
things  one  would  expect  from  a  veritable  miracle  man. 
How  could  he  even  think  of  trifling  with  the  whole  world 
in  such  a  fashion?  Was  he  deranged  after  all?  Had 
she  been  the  innocent  victim  of  a  wild  man's  hallucina- 
tions ?  While  she  pondered  thus  all  confused,  he  gave  his 
key  a  final  tap  and  confronted  her. 

"Now  the  New  York  newspapers  will  have  some- 
thing for  their  front  pages  tomorrow  morning,"  he  said. 
"You'll  hear  about  it  when  you  get  back." 

"I  should  say  so,  if  that's  the  message 'they  got,"  she 

47 


HIGH    GIRL 

replied  as  she  clutched  the  sheet  of  paper  she  held  in  her 
hands. 

"That's  the  very  message  they  got  and  not  a  human 
soul  could  trace  its  true  source,"  he  declared  emphati- 
cally. "It's  another  one  of  my  inventions  which  would 
be  useful,  but  I  won't  give  anyone  a  chance  to  steal  it. 
You  know  I  can  send  a  wireless  clear  around  the  world 
and  receive  it  myself  right  in  the  sending  station." 

"But,  sir,  I  cannot  resist  making  known  my  resent- 
ment of  the  misrepresentation  in  this  message  you  say 
you  have  just  sent  broadcast,"  the  girl  persisted  as  her 
conscience  began  to  bother  her. 

"Nor  can  I  resist  my  relentless  resentment  of 
man's  treatment  of  me  before  I  decided  to  give  up  the 
battle  I  could  have  won  so  easily  and  beneficially  to  all," 
he  replied.  "Anyway,  if  you  don't  watch  yourself,  you'll 
find  yourself  hanging  stationary  in  the  air  when  you  fly 
that  plane  of  yours  again." 

"You  mean — " 

"I  mean  I  was  foolish  enough  to  give  you  the  benefit 
of  one  of  my  proudest  achievements — an  automatic  com- 
bination of  aerial  stabilizer,  elevator,  and  anchor.  There's 
one  on  your  machine  now,  and  I  shall  know  that  when 
you  fly  away  from  me  you  cannot  fall,  barring  extraordi- 
nary acts  of  God.  The  only  question  in  my  mind  is,  will 
you  have  food  enough  on  board  to  keep  you  alive  in  case 

48 


HIGH    GIRL 

you  get  stalled  mid-air  and  can't  navigate  again  soon." 

Now  Gwen  Dale  was  all  muddled.  What  was  this 
man  talking  about?  She  heard  every  word  he  uttered, 
but  she  simply  could  not  grasp  the  full  import  of  his 
statements,  just  as  a  vast  majority  of  all  the  human  be- 
ings fail  to  sense  the  presence  of  our  greatest  talent  out- 
side of  the  realm  of  the  famous  and  the  acclaimed. 
Skepticism  swayed  this  girl  far  away  from  this  man. 
She  felt  prone  to  laugh  at  him.  Yet,  she  pitied  him  a 
little.  He  was  most  likely  hopelessly  insane,  according  to 
her  main  version  of  it.  She  forgot  that  Jules  Verne  was 
ridiculed  erroneously  and  that  submarines  did  more  later 
than  even  he  dared  to  predict  in  his  wild,  fanciful  fic- 
tion. She  forgot  how  people  had  roared  with  mirth  when 
someone  ventured  to  be  serious  in  prophesies  regarding 
the  conquering  of  the  air.  Oh  yes,  she  forgot  how  easily 
possible  a  great  many  "impossibilities"  had  become  under 
the  duress  of  the  persistent  genius  of  certain  men. 

So  her  next  words  were : 

"I  guess  we're  a  couple  of  rummies." 

This  was  like  the  spark  in  the  bucket.  It  precipitated 
a  terrific  explosion  like  a  flash. 

"You  little  fool  you !"  Given  C.  Hope  yelled,  "You're 
precisely  like  your  kind — the  human  race,  I  mean.  Your 
one  asset  is  doubt  alloyed  with  ridicule.  You  are  as 
heartless  as  you  are  pretty.  You — but  what's  the  use, 

49 


HIGH    GIRL 

what  is  the  use?" 

The  thoughtless,  little  Gwen  was  perceptibly  sobered 
dp  by  this  excoriation.  At  last  she  realized  it  would  be 
a  grave  error  to  continue  her  inherent  flippancy,  a  non- 
chalance she  had  relied  upon  to  maintain  her  courage. 
It  was  high  time  that  she  display  a  serious  interest  in 
this  fellow  if  she  was  to  fly  away  satisfied.  Anyway, 
she  simply  had  to  admire  him  in  spite  of  all  his  gloom 
and  prejudice.  And  now  she  must  know  all  about  him, 
his  past  and  definitely  his  plans  for  the  future.  So  now 
she  spoke  in  a  completely  new  spirit. 

"Please  forgive  me  for  my  repeated  offenses  in  ad- 
dressing you,"  she  began.  "I  was  pretending  careless- 
ness because  I  was  afraid  of  you." 

"I  knew  that,"  he  averred.  "And  you  did  have 
cause  to  fear  me.  I  went  into  the  hut  while  you  slept 
last  night  with  the  intention  of  making  it  your  last  sleep, 
but  I  changed  my  mind.  I  argued  there  was  no  sense 
in  me  committing  murder  even  though^  mankind's  attitude 
towards  me  had  always  been  murderous  to  my  hopes." 

The  girl  suppressed  a  shiver  and  retained  a  set  de- 
termination to  draw  the  man  out. 

"Tell  me  all  about  your  disappointments,"  she  urged. 
"Perhaps  I  can  help  you." 

"No,  you  can't  help  me  a  bit,"  he  denied.  "How- 
ever, you  can  repay  me  for  what  I've  done  to  your  sea- 

50 


HIGH    GIRL 

plane  by  seeing  to  it  that  the  press  gets  a  full  report  of 
the  revelations  I  have  offered  tonight.  I  want  such  pub- 
licity as  my  revenge,  a  revenge  which  will  be  sweetened 
by  the  knowledge  that  no  mortal  can  profit  by  my  inven- 
tions and  discoveries.  Mind  you,  this  is  a  determination 
on  my  part — it  is  not  an  aspiration.  In  fact,  the  only  am- 
bition I  have  is  to  see  what  there  is  on  Mars.  Now,  will 
you  tell  them  about  the  genius  you  found  in  the  sea- 
bound  depths  of  oblivion?" 

"Yes,"  she  promised. 

"Then  we  need  to  proceed  no  farther,"  he  replied 
coldly. 

"But,  I  must  know  your  name  first  of  all,"  she  in 
sisted. 

Thereupon  he  lapsed  into  deep  study. 

"You  see  they  would  never  believe  my  story  if  such 
essential  details  as  the  name  and  a  former  address  were 
lacking,"  she  added. 

"I  guess  you're  right,"  he  finally  replied.  "But  be- 
fore I  give  this  information,  you  must  pledge  on  your 
word  of  honor  that  you  will  never  attempt  to  see  me  or 
my  island  again,  nor  you  must  not  direct  others  here. 
Do  you  swear  you  will  meet  these  conditions?" 

"I— er— " 

"Yes  or  no?" 

"But  you  see  I  might  get  awfully  lonesome  and  want 

51 


HIGH    GIRL 

to  come  back,"  she  ventured  coyly. 

"Come  back !    What  for  ?"  he  demanded. 

"To  see  more  of  the  wonders  of  a  wonderful  man," 
she  confessed,  casting  furtive  glances  at  the  man. 

He  was  obviously  astonished.  He  was  also  flattered, 
for  he  had  his  share  of  egotism.  He  even  fell  to  wonder- 
ing whether  or  not  this  girl  was  falling  in  love  with  him. 
Forthwith  he  resolved  to  ascertain  this. 

"What  do  you  mean  for  me  to  infer?"  he  asked  in 
kinder  tones  than  had  been  his  wont. 

"I — I — but  now  you  embarrass  me,"  she  stammered. 

"I  don't  want  to  embarrass  you;  I  desire  to  set  you 
straight,"  he  reassured. 

"Set  me  straight?    How?"  she  asked. 

"By  convincing  you  of  the  futility  of  romancing 
with  me." 

This  bold  stroke  did  embarrass  Gwen  Dale  very 
much,  especially  when  she  found  herself  without  words 
to  retort  promptly  and  appropriately.  The  longer  she 
remained  silent  the  worse  it  looked  for  her  chances  of  en- 
tering a  sound  denial. 

"What's  the  matter  with  me  all  of  a  sudden?"  she 
asked  of  him  appealingly  after  making  three  attempts  to 
say  something  else. 

"You've  got  me  puzzled,  woman,"  was  his  answer. 

She  straightened  right  up  with  a  trace  of  indigna- 

52 


HIGH    GIRL 

tion  as  she  retaliated  with  these  tell-tale  words : 

"Well,  I  won't  permit  the  man  I  love  to  call  me 
'woman'  in  such  a  sense." 

He  shrugged  his  shoulders.  "That  let's  me  out. 
Hence  I'll  continue  to  call  you  what  you  are,  woman, 
whenever  it  pleases  me." 

Right  away  Gwen  got  to  thinking  about  cavemen 
and  their  unsavory  proclivities,  and  this  with  a  realiza- 
tion that  she  was  gradually  weakening  in  her  life-long 
antagonism  towards  men  as  a  result  of  getting  better 
acquainted  with  this  eccentric  recluse,  led  her  to  decide 
it  was  time  for  her  to  retire  for  the  night. 

"May  I  not  be  excused  now?"  she  asked  timidly 
and  as  she  smothered  a  forced  yawn  added:  "I'm 
dreadfully  tired  and  sleepy  and  I  know  you  will  protect 
me  from  harm  while  I  rest." 

"Yes,  I  will  protect  you,"  he  promised  quite  gently. 

"Thank  you,"  and  she  smiled  radiantly  at  him. 

"You'll  be  more  than  welcome  if  you  boost  me  to 
the  high  skies  when  you  get  back  to  America." 

"I'll  sure  do  that  -with  a  zest,"  she  agreed.  "Now 
for  your  name." 

"I've  decided  you  don't  need  to  know  it.  Come  on." 

So  saying  he  led  the  way  across  the  island  and  the 

53 


HIGH    GIRL 

quick  return  of  his  gruff  manner  of  speech  led  the  girl 
to  decide  to  defer  pressing  him  for  the  information. 
Anyway  she  figured  she  had  had  her  share  of  revelations 
for  one  night. 


64 


HIGH    GIRL 
CHAPTER  VI. 


A  DAY  OF  CONFIDENCES. 


AN  ideal  spring  day  followed.     The  air  was  balmy 
and  the  sun  seemed  to  be  more  gloriously  golden 
than  it  ever  had  been  before. 

Gwen  Dale  awakened  early  much  refreshed  by  a 
sound,  undisturbed  sleep.  She  started  humming  a  love 
song  as  soon  as  she  arose,  and  she  took  particular  pains 
in  dressing  herself  in  her  aviation  suit.  She  found  a 
perfectly  good  comb,  brush  and  mirror  and  she  arranged 
her  fluffy  golden  hair  its  prettiest.  As  she  looked  into 
the  mirror  she  noted  that  her  large  blue  eyes  were  un- 
usually clear.  She  wondered  why  they  were  not  blood- 
shot after  all  she  had  gone  through.  She  also  noted  with 
pride  that  her  complexion  was  decidedly  pink. 

"It  seems  nature  has  fixed  me  all  up  for  a  conquest," 
she  told  herself  and  then  she  laughed  aloud. 

When  presently  she  walked  out  of  the  hut  door,  she 
was  pleased  to  find  Given  C.  Hope,  whom  she  knew  only 
as  the  man,  sitting  alert  on  a  knoll  some  twenty  feet  away. 

"Well,  good  morning,"  she  greeted  cordially. 

"Good  morning,"  he  acknowledged  without  the 
slightest  trace  of  a  smile. 

"Did  you  sleep  well?"  she  inquired  with  concern. 

55 


HIGH    GIRL 

"Not  much — guards  are  not  supposed  to  sleep  at  all 
while  on  duty,"  he  replied. 

"Do  you  mean  you  have  been  actually  guarding  over 
me  all  night?" 

"Yes,  right  here — I  kept  my  word  in  this  case  just 
as  I  expect  you  to  keep  your  word  when  you  go  back," 
he  said. 

Gwen  sat  down  beside  him.  She  was  delighted  to 
note  that  he  was  -observing  her  hair  without  his  usual 
frown. 

"Do  you  like  the  way  I  have  my  hair  arranged  this 
morning  ?"  she  asked,  giving  him  a  smile. 

"Oh,  it's  all  right,  but  why  do  you  evade  the  sub- 
ject I  have  brought  up?" 

The  girl  felt  a  slight  pique  and  she  wanted  to  pout, 
but  a  better  judgment  prevailed  and  she  decided  to  pur- 
sue a  seriously  frank  course. 

"I  don't  mean  to  evade,"  she  declared.  "On  the  con- 
trary, I  hope  you  and  I  will  be  quite  frank  with  each 
other  today." 

"You  should  be  frank,  but  it  doesn't  matter  about 
me,"  was  his  reply. 

"Oh  yes  it  does,"  she  insisted,  "because  I  am  much 
interested  in  you,  and  I  really  want  to  do  you  a  good 
turn  in  the  hopes  we  may  meeet  again  under  more  fortu- 
nate circumstances." 

60 


HIGH    GIRL 

This  was  candor  of  the  eye-opening  variety,  and 
Hope's  eyes  widened  noticeably  as  he  gazed  intently  into 
the  deep  blue  of  her  now  serious  eyes. 

"You  have  pleased  me  by  words  for  the  first  time," 
he  admitted  and  after  a  pause  added:  "But  it  will  be 
impossible  for  us  to  ever  meet  again  after  you  fly  away 
tomorrow." 

"Why?"  she  asked  with  some  show  of  alarm. 

"Because  I'm  not  going  to  take  any  chances  on  giv- 
ing mankind  the  benefit  of  my  genius,  and,  I'd  have  to 
earn  a  living  if  I  took  a  wife,"  was  his  answer. 

"You  misconstrued  my  words,"  she  a,sserted  as  a 
blush  mounted  her  cheeks.  "I — I — didn't  mean  we 
should  wed  when  we  meet  again." 

"Well,  that's  what  the  natural  sequence  of  events 
means  and  the  only  way  I  could  support  anyone  would  be 
through  my  inventions,  which  I  swear  I  shall  never  sell 
to  anyone,"  he  persisted. 

"But  don't  you  think  you  will  eventually  get  over 
this  malice  you  feel  towards  your  fellow-men?"  she 
asked. 

"Never!"  he  thundered. 

"Why  not  ?  Haven't  other  deserving  aspirants  over- 
come their  bitterness  after  repeated  defeats  ?  Can't  you  ? 
And  don't  you  know  you  will  triumph  gloriously  with 
these  wonderful  ideas  of  yours?  Don't  you — " 

57 


HIGH    GIRL 

"I  will  not  be  reasoned  with  or  argued  out  of  my 
justifiable  purpose,"  he  interrupted  with  a  forbidding 
wave  of  both  hands. 

There  was  always  something  most  decisive  in  this 
man's  negations  and  he  possessed  an  uncanny  ability 
for  stifling  enthusiasm.  He  had  no  doubt  acquired  this 
through  protracted  choking  of  his  own  aspirations.  Gwen 
Dale  knew  any  further  efforts  to  drive  home  arguments 
at  this  juncture  would  be  fruitless  and  luckily  she  con- 
ceived another  notion. 

"Very  well,"  she  finally  said  submissively.  "Now 
if  you'll  show  me  where  your  larder  and  cooking  outfit 
are,  I'll  prepare  breakfast." 

"I  can  do  that  better  than  you  can,"  he  snapped  as 
he  arose  to  his  feet  dusting  the  seat  of  his  trousers. 

"Oh  I  don't  know,"  she  replied  confidently  as  she 
arose  dusting  herself  in  a  spirit  of  mischievous  imita- 
tion. "All  the  folks  at  home  say  I'm  some  cook.  I'd 
love  to  hear  your  opinion." 

Hope  reflected  for  a  moment  and,  then,  without  ut- 
tering another  sound,  led  the  way  into  the  hut.  Crossing 
to  a  lever  attached  to  the  wall  opposite  to  the  bunk,  he 
hesitated  as  if  in  doubt. 

"Go  ahead,  be  game,"  the  girl  urged.  "One  meal, 
even  badly  cooked,  wouldn't  kill  you." 

After  rubbing  his  hands  together  briskly  for  thirty 

58 


HIGH    GIRL 

seconds,  which  seemed  like  ten  minutes  to  the  curious 
and  interested  girl,  he  pulled  the  lever  down  and  a  slid- 
ing door  opened  revealing  a  unique  kitchenette  of  im- 
maculate white.  In  her  unrestrained  surprise  Gwen 
rushed  right  into  the  room  ahead  of  the  man. 

"Isn't  this  gorgeously  cute !"  she  exclaimed.  "And  to 
think  it  is  one  man's  work  accomplished  independent  of 
anyone  else's  aid,  and  so  far  away  from  civilization !  Oh, 
I  love  this !" 

The  typically  feminine  ecstasy  of  the  girl  proved 
to  be  contagious  to  the  extent  of  making  Hope  smile 
half  in  pride  and  half  in  pleasure  over  the  impromptu 
compliment  which  had  been  paid  him  for  his  good  taste. 
The  smile  was  still  on  his  face  as  he  crossed  to  press  two 
buttons  in  rapid  succession.  A  panel  in  the  wall  slid 
open  and  revealed  a  large  pantry  rilled  with  all  kinds  of 
canned  edibles  and  several  baskets  of  fresh  vegetables 
and  fruits. 

"There,"  he  said.  "Get  up  the  menu  to  suit  your- 
self. Here's  the  stove  already  hot." 

He  indicated  a  large  steel  plate  on  one  end  of  which 
was  attached  an  oven. 

"How  perfectly  dandy,"  the  girl  enthused  as  she 
crossed  to  the  stove  and  held  her  hand  over  it.  An  ex- 
pression of  perplexity  spread  over  her  face  as  she  failed 
to  locate  the  source  of  the  heat.  When  she  looked  ask- 

59 


HIGH    GIRL 

ance  at  her  host  he  said  simply  : 

"Electric." 

"What  complete  ingenuity,"  was  her  admiring  com- 
ment. 

"It's  quite  simple,"  he  replied  modestly.  "But  go 
ahead  with'  your  breakfast.  I  will  be  back  in  ten 
minutes." 

Gwen  was  positively  happy  in  that  kitchenette.  She 
enjoyed  every  second  of  the  work  of  preparing  the  break- 
fast, which  consisted  of  most  everything  on  a  complete 
menu  excepting  dairy  products. 

When  Hope  returned  he  was  visibly  pleased  with 
the  attractive  way  in  which  the  girl  had  decorated  and 
set  the  table,  and  when  he  ate  the  food  he  mentally  con- 
fessed it  tasted  better  than  any  meal  he  had  ever  cooked. 
The  grace  and  efficiency  with  which  she  waited  on  him 
made  a  favorable  impression,  too.  It  was  so  home-like 
and  her  companionship  was,  after  all,  most  congenial. 

"Is  everything  all  right?"  she  inquired  as  she  noted 
how  heartily  he  ate. 

"First-class,  but  you're  still  doomed  to  disappoint- 
ment if  my  deductions  concerning  your  thoughts  are  cor- 
rect," he  replied  without  looking  up  from  his  plate. 

"Oh  cheer  up,  Mister  Man,  you  might  be  doomed  to 
some  pleasant  surprises  yet,"  she  retorted  good-natured- 


60 


HIGH    GIRL 

"No,"  he  fairly  expostulated.  "And  please  don't 
persist  in  being  optimistic  in  my  presence." 

Thus  was  the  girl  once  more  forestalled  in  her 
valiant  attempt  to  force  some  sunshine  into  this  gloomy 
pessimist's  life. 

Immediately  upon  finishing  he  shoved  his  chair 
back  and  arose,  announcing  in  the  most  matter-of-fact 
way  imaginable,  that  he  expected  to  be  occupied  all  morn- 
ing in  working  on  her  seaplane  preparatory  to  her  flight 
homeward,  and,  without  even  waiting  for  her  answer  he 
walked  out  of  the  hut  as  if  he  were  in  a  hurry. 

"Well,  I'll  be  hanged,  if  he  isn't  the  queerest  man  I 
ever  met,"  she  ejaculated.  "What  a  fussing  good  time 
his  wife  is  going  to  have  with  him  for  abrupt  stunts  like 
that !" 

However,  despite  these  sentiments  the  girl  derived 
real  pleasure  from  the  tasks  of  cleaning  up  the  break- 
fast dishes  and  tidying  up  the  place  in  general.  It  was 
not  until  she  had  completed  all  the  jobs  she  could  find  to 
do  that  she  thought  much  of  the  curious  case  her  host 
presented,  due  to  his  extraordinary  views  and  obstinacy. 
She  was  sure  of  a  most  unhappy  existence  back  in  New 
York  City  if  she  went  away  from  him  with  no  better 
understanding  than  she  had  thus  far  achieved.  In  fact, 
she  felt  she  could  not  bear  to  leave  him  permanently  to 
his  sad  ruminations  and  excessive  sufferings  of  defeat. 

61 


HIGH    GIRL 

She  must  go  and  do  his  bidding  faithfully  by  singing  his 
praises  without  stint  and  then  she  must  see  him  again 
to  report  the  results !  All  this  seemed  unalterably  patent 
to  her.  Why?  Well,  she  scarcely  knew  for  certain. 
Anyway  acting  solely  upon  impulse  she  suddenly  ran  out 
of  the  hut  and  to  her  seaplane  on  the  beach. 

There  he  was  working  away  with  truly  prodigious 
energy  on  the  engine.  Upon  discovering  her  presence  he 
gave  her  one  fleeting  glance  and  remarked  casually : 

"It's  not  near  as  good  an  engine  as  you'd  think 
they'd  be  able  to  make  after  all  their  experiences." 

"Why,  that's  a  Rolls-Royce  and  it's  supposed  to  be 
the  acme  of  perfection,"  she  replied. 

"Just  the  same  it  is  full  of  defects  with  all  due  re- 
spect to  the  Rolls-Royce  idea,  which  within  itself  is 
pretty  good,"  he  contended.  "However,  when  I  get 
through  you'll  have  a  plane  that'll  take  you  across  the 
Atlantic  and  back  again  without  any  trouble."  Then  he 
paused  to  gaze  steadily  into  her  eyes  for  a  moment,  after 
which  he  continued:  "This  much  I'm  doing  for  you  in 
spite  of  my  determination  to  exclude  man  from  my 
realm  of  usefulness.  "With  my  aid  you  will  be  able  to 
realize  your  ambition  to  be  the  first  woman  to  navigate 
all  the  kinds  of  air  this  great  ocean  can  have.  I've  no 
doubt  but  what  the  so-called  experts  will  examine  this 
machine  and  copy  its  improvements,  but  I'm  satisfied  in 

62 


HIGH    GIRL 

the  knowledge  that  these  aeronautical  devices  are  my 
least  important  inventions,  and  anyway,  I  want  to  make 
you  feel  indebted  to  me." 

"And  why  do  you  want  me  indebted  to  you  if  we're 
never  going  to  meet  again?"  she  asked. 

"So  you'll  do  your  bit  to  help  me  gain  revenge  by 
telling  the  world  what  it  has  missed  by  side-tracking  me 
so  heartlessly,"  he  announced  with  pronounced  empha- 
sis on  every  word. 

"I'll  do  all  I  can—" 

"Good !" 

"But  on  one  condition — 

"Absolutely   not — no   conditions." 

"Yes!"  And  Gwen  Dale  was  never  so  firmly  de- 
termined in  all  her  young  life. 

"Yes?  You  still  want  to  argue  with  me  after  I 
have  told  you  it's  no  use?"  he  demanded  considerably 
surprised. 

"Yes,  I  want  to  argue  with  you  all  the  rest  of  the 
minutes  I'm  here  if  necessary  to  make  you  see  the  mis- 
take you  are  making  in  exiling  your  wonderful  self,"  she 
announced  without  flinching. 

Given  C.  Hope  looked  at  Gwen  Dale  as  he  had 
never  looked  at  a  girl  before.  The  very  expression  in 
his  eyes  betrayed  his  realization  of  facing  a  really  un- 
usual member  of  the  gentler  sex,  one  in  whom  most  any 

63 


HIGH    GIRL 

man  could  repose  unlimited  confidence.  He  was  com- 
pelled to  admire  her  courage  in  standing  ground  she 
could  not  possibly  tread  upon  the  minute  he  willed  to  the 
contrary.  He  knew  he  was  master  of  the  situation  if  he 
chose  to  be.  He  could  even  prevent  her  from  ever  re- 
turning to  civilization  again  if  he  wished  to  go  to  ex- 
tremes, and,  there  was  no  one  to  check  him  I  He  knew  the 
girl  knew  this,  and  therefore  he  admired  her  all  the 
more  for  her  unshakeable  bravery.  How  could  he  resist 
her?  Easily,  could  Given  C.  Hope,  so  obsessed  was  he 
by  the  spirit  of  making  man  remorseful  for  all  the  vicis- 
situdes he  had  endured. 

"You're  going  to  fail,  girlie,  just  as  I  have  failed 
in  the  years  gone  by,"  he  finally  replied,  at  once  resuming 
his  work. 

"No,  no,  no,"  fairly  screamed  the  girl.  "This  is  an 
injustice  I  will  not  see  done.  I—" 

"Brave  words  and  I  admire  your  determination,  but 
all  Hell  can't  change  me  now,  it's  too  late,"  he  inter- 
rupted. 

"All  Hell  may  not  be  able  to  change  you,  but  I  will !" 
she  hurled- back  at  him  defiantly. 

"I'm  sorry,  Miss,  but  you  won't,"  he  denied  firmly. 

"Then  I  won't  fly  back  to  America  at  all." 

"You  will  leave  here  before  sunrise  tomorrow." 

"I  won't." 

64 


HIGH    GIRL 

"I  refuse  to  argue  further  with  you." 

"Oh,  pshaw,  that's  the  goal  we  always  reach;  let's 
sprint  for  somewhere  else."  And  now  the  girl's  attitude 
was  one  of  challenge. 

"Now  I'm  going  to  tell  you  something  confidential," 
he  interposed,  discontinuing  his  work  again. 

"I  shall  be  glad  to  hear  all  of  that  you've  got  to  hand 
out,"  she  proclaimed  with  an  air  of  entreaty  combined 
with  a  I-think-it's-about-time  spirit. 

"Fine !"  he  replied.  "I  was  married  once  and  I 
never  got  a  divorce." 

Gwen's  eyes  blinked  once  more,  and,  she  pondered 
for  just  a  few  seconds.  Then  she  retorted  significantly : 

"Well,  the  divorce  courts  are  still  open  to  all  com- 
ers if  there's  any  excuse  for  coming  to  them.  " 

Hope  straightened  up  and  eyed  the  girl  narrowly. 

"Say,  you  are  bent  on  romancing,  aren't  you?"  he 
murmured  in  low,  ridiculing  tones. 

"No,  emphatically  no,  but  I  think  you're  much  too 
nice  a  fellow  to  rot  away  in  oblivion,"  she  replied. 

"You're  the  first  one  to  ever  make  known  such  a 
viewpoint  to  me,  and,  unfortunately,  you  do  not  run  the 
world  or  its  inhabitants  to  suit  yourself,"  was  his  answer. 

"Well,  I  can  go  a  long  ways  towards  changing  a 
large  portion  of  the  world  and  you'd  better  give  in  a  few 
points  to  me  if  you  really  want  to  get  revenge,"  she  quick- 

65 


HIGH    GIRL 

ly  retaliated  with  the  air  of  one  determined  to  threaten 
at  any  cost. 

"I'll  get  all  the  revenge  I  want  with  or  without 
your  aid,  but  I'm  sincere  in  my  appeals  for  your  help." 

"I've  given  'you  my  word  of  honor  that  I'll  exploit 
you  all  I  can,  but  I  want  to  do  more — I  want  to  extricate 
you  from  this  entanglement  of  stubborn  despair  and  reck- 
less resignation  to  a  tragic  fate." 

This  was  indeed  a  laudable  friendship  for  a  girl,  who 
was  really  a  stranger,  to  offer,  and,  Hope  was  suddenly 
controlled  by  an  irresistible  sense  of  appreciation. 

"I  would  be  a  miserable  ingrate  if  I  did  not  thank 
you  for  your  fine  spirit,"  he  said.  "I  will  be  frank  enough 
to  say  that  if  I  had  not  experienced  such  positive  proof 
of  the  impossibility  of  my  fitting  into  man's  social  and 
economic  systems  successfully,  and  if  I  had  not  been 
dealt  such  terrific  blows  in  my  matrimonial  venture,  I 
would  listen  to  you  and  I  would  probably  follow  you  as  a 
worshipper.  As  it  stands,  it's  all  too  late — my  heart  is 
too  seared  and  my  soul  is  too  deadened  to  ever  accom- 
plish a  regeneration.  I'm  sorry,  but  my  mind  is  made  up." 

It  is  pretty  difficult  to  persuade  a  man  who  is  in 
such  a  groove.  Gwen  Dale  was  not  equal  to  the  occa- 
sion. She  had  never  before  encountered  such  an  invul- 
nerable wall  of  resistance.  She  could  not  understand 
why  any  mortal  could  be  so  determined  to  abandon  the 

66 


HIGH    GIRL 

good  things  of  life  only  because  they  did  not  come  soon 
enough.  She  failed  to  understand  this  man's  mental  at- 
titude just  as  society  cannot  fathom  the  workings  of  a 
mind  bent  on  self-destruction  disregarding  all  exhorta- 
tions to  reconsider.  She  was  perceptibly  discouraged 
and  was  suddenly  enveloped  in  an  apparent  sadness.  She 
was,  of  course,  unaware  of  the  fact  that  Hope  had  never 
been  married,  and  was  only  resorting  to  prevarication  to 
discourage,  and,  as  he  calculated,  to  save  her. 

Wisely  he  continued  his  work  on  the  machine  with- 
out looking  to  see  the  effect  of  his  words  upon  the 
girl.  She  gazed  long  and  wistfully  into  blank  space  be- 
fore she  could  summon  enough  power  to  speak  again 
and  when  she  did  propound  a  rather  off-hand  question 
as  to  what  became  of  his  wife,  her  voice  was  husky. 

"Or  do  you  care  to  talk  about  her?"  she  supple- 
mented. 

He  diverted  his  attention  from  his  work  long 
enough  to  say : 

"I  married  the  wrong  woman.  Men  generally  do. 
After  she  had  ruined  me,  she  went  away  with  another 
man  under  disgraceful  circumstances.  Women  can  al- 
ways get  sympathy  and  consolation  you  know.  She  so 
completely  destroyed  my  confidence  in  people  who  make 
solemn  vows  that  I  would  never  reconcile  myself  to 
trusting  anyone  again.  Meanwhile,  I  was  always  able 

67 


HIGH    GIRL 

to  accomplish  such  useful  feats  as  you  have  seen  here, 
but  I  never  had  any  source  of  incentive.  In  fact,  when 
I  saw  I  could  never  gain  even  a  start  through  my  best 
ideas  and  when  I  got  thoroughly  acquainted  with  men's 
strong  tendencies  to  steal  and  profit  by  it,  while  I  suf- 
fered the  agonies — mind  you,  the  agonies — of  working 
hard  to  no  good  end,  I  gave  up  once  for  all." 

"Then  you  don't  love  this  woman  any  more?" 

"Certainly  not — I  abhor  the  memory  of  her." 

"And  you  could  never  love  another?" 

"Yes,  I  could  really  love  for  the  first  time,"  and  he 
smiled  at  his  own  capacity  for  deceiving. 

"You  could?"  Wherewith  Gwen  turned  her  gaze  to 
the  confessor. 

"Yes,  I  could  love  you,"  he  admitted. 

"Then  why  don't  you?"  she  almost  demanded. 

"Because  it  would  ruin  you  and  it  would  ruin  me," 
he  declared  impressively.  Then  he  climbed  down  off  the 
seaplane  and  walked  over  to  the  girl.  "You  see  if  I  weak- 
ened now  for  selfish  reasons,  I  would  go  back  to  civiliza- 
tion and  perhaps  become  successful.  I  don't  want  to  do 
that." 

"Why  not?"  she  asked,  still  puzzled. 

"Because  I  can  serve  a  better  purpose  my  unhap- 
pier  way." 

"I  fail  to  see  how." 

68 


HIGH   GIRL 

"Could  not  I  teach  this  and  future  generations  to  not 
ignore  the  unknown  would-do-well  so  generally  by  mak- 
ing myself  a  martyr  to  the  cause  ?" 

"A  martyr  to  the  cause!"  she  ga  ;n  renewed 
alarm.  "You  mean — " 

"I  mean  I  would  gladly  die  to  spare  contemporary 
strugglers  and  those  unborn,"  he  affirmed  smilingly. 

And  that  smile  was  the  manliest  smile  Gwen  Dale 
ever  saw,  she  thought.  This  man  was  the  most  remark- 
able hero  she  had  heard  about,  she  was  sure.  He  would 
die  that  laudable  and  lofty  aspirations  might  survive. 
The  world  had  long  since  become  too  greedy  and  unfair. 
Monopolists  in  every  walk  of  life  did  keep  the  door  of 
opportunity  as  slightly  ajar  as  they  could.  It  was  difficult 
to  get  a  start  in  doing  big  things  without  influence. 
Never  before  did  this  girl  realize  these  incontrovertible 
facts  as  she  did  now.  She  was  familiar  with  a  shining 
example  wherein  the  system  of  developing  new  talent 
was  wrong.  She  also  recalled  how  even  her  own  father 
and  mother  laughed  scornfully  when  she  announced  an 
ambition  to  become  an  aviatrix  in  order  that  she  might 
do  her  share  towards  conquering  the  air  for  the  benefit 
of  man  and  science.  She  could  at  last  see  clearly  the  un- 
pardonable sin  which  had  been  committed  against  this 
genius  simply  because  he  was  in  oblivion  and  meek 
about  it. 

69 


HIGH    GIRL 

Given  C.  Hope  studied  her  intently  all  the  time  she 
was  silently  contemplating  these  facts. 

"May  I  ask  what  is  .the  matter  ?"  he  finally  asked 
gently. 

"Oh!  Oh!  You  are  winning  me  over  to  your  view- 
point," she  moaned  ruefully. 

"I'm  sincerely  glad." 

"I'm  sorry,"  she  replied. 

"Of  course,  now,  but  later  you  will  be  glad,"  he 
assured  her. 

"I  doubt  it,  but  I  cannot  stoop  to  begging  a  man  to 
abandon  a  wonderful  heroism  for  my  sake,"  she  replied. 
"I  did  not  know  I  was  trying  to  persuade  the  strongest 
man  I  ever  knew  to  become  a  weakling  just  for  worldly 
reasons.  I  will  fly  away  tomorrow  hoping  against  hope 
that  I  will  do  exactly  as  you  wish." 

"Hoping  against  hope,"  he  repeated  after  her 
thoughtfully. 

"Yes,"  she  whispered. 

He  drew  closer  to  her  and  took  her  hand. 

"Don't  hope  against  Hope,"  he  beseeched. 

"I'm  afraid  I  can't  help  it,"  she  demurred. 

"Yes  you  can  when  I  tell  you  one  more  secret.  That 
is  my  name,  Hope — Given  C.  Hope." 

"It  is!"  she  exclaimed. 

"Yes   and   the   first   necessity    for   my   telling  you 

70 


HIGH    GIRL 

seemed  to  come  into  being  when  you  said  you  would 
hope  against  hope.  I  want  you  to  hope  for  me." 

"I — I  will,"  she  promised.  "I'll  pray  for  you.  Oh 
God!" 

And  poor,  distracted,  little  Gwen  Dale  fell  in  a  limp 
heap  into  Hope's  strong  arms. 


HIGH    GIRL 
CHAPTER  VII. 


BEFORE  SUNRISE. 


JUST  at  the  break  of  the  next  morning  Gwen  Dale 
was  awakened  by  the  sound  of  the  motor  on  her 
seaplane.  She  lost  little  time  in  donning  her  clothes  and 
getting  out  of  the  hut.  Upon  reaching  the  beach  she  was 
surprised  to  find  Given  C.  Hope  on  top  of  the  upper 
wing  energetically  wielding  a  hammer  while  the  propeller 
was  going  full  speed  without  scarcely  making  the  machine 
tremble. 

"Well,"  she  exclaimed  jovially.  "Where  there's 
work,  there's  Hope." 

The  din  of  the  engine  precluded  the  possibility  of 
hearing  so  soft  and  sweet  a  voice,  but  Hope  espied  the 
girl  the  moment  she  arrived,  and  he  smiled  his  greeting. 
A  moment  later  he  discontinued  his  hammering,  climbed 
down  to  the  fuselage  and,  after  stopping  the  motor, 
leaped  out,  landing  firmly  on  the  sand. 

"She's  tuned  up  great  and  I  know  you'll  fly  back 
to  New  York  with  ease,"  he  assured. 

"And,  you're  still  determined  that  I  shall  go  today  ?" 
she  asked  eagerly. 

"Yes,  before  the  sun  comes  up,"  he  declared  em- 
phatically. 

72 


HIGH    GIRL 

"What  if  I  refuse  to  fly?"  she  ventured  much  in- 
clined to  temporize. 

"Then  I  will  find  a  way  to  force  you  to  obey  me," 
he  replied  grimly. 

"All  right,  but  suppose  I  do  go,  can't  I  come  back 
if  I  want  to?"  she  persisted. 

"You  or  no  one  else  shall  ever  set  foot  on  this  island 
again  if  I  have  the  power  to  prevent." 

"But  maybe  you  might  get  sick  and  need  someone 
to  care  for  you,"  she  suggested  with  obvious  concern. 

"The  God  in  the  Heaven  will  take  care  of  me  and 
I  place  my  whole  trust  in  Him  alone."  Hope  uttered 
these  words  in  a  tone  of  voice  which  was  convincing  of 
his  deep  faith  in  his  religion, 

"I'm  glad  to  hear  you  say  that,  for  it  proves  you 
have  not  lost  all  your  faith  in  everything,"  she  said,  as- 
suming a  more  serious  attitude. 

"I  still  believe  in  the  Supreme  Being  and  I  know 
He  has  proven  His  love  for  me,"  the  earnest  man  af- 
firmed. "I'm  striving  with  all  my  might  to  be  worthy 
of  an  exalted  eternity.  It  is  for  this  reason  [  tried  to 
avoid  you  entirely  when  you  first  landed." 

"But  why  pick  on  me?"  she  asked  feigning  pique. 

"I'm  not  picking  on  you,  but  when  you  came  1  fear- 
ed I  might  do  what  I  always  swore  I  would  do  if  any 
human  being  ever  intruded  upon  my  seclusion,"  he  re- 

73 


HIGH   GIRL 

plied. 

"Kill?"  she  asked  becoming  suddenly  excited. 

"Yes,  and  I  went  into  the  hut  while  you  slept  the 
first  night  feeling  I  would  not  be  satisfied  if  I  let  you  sur- 
vive," he  announced  half  in  shame. 

"Oh  don't  tell  me  that  you  would  have  murdered 
me,"  she  begged. 

"Yes,  I  would  have " 

"Then  what  stopped  you?" 

"Your  innocent  beauty,"  he  confessed. 

"Thank  goodness  you  thought  that,"  she  replied.  "I 
was  almost  sure  I  half  realized  you  came  into  the  hut 
that  night." 

"Please  let  me  forget  it  all  now,  because  I'm  sorry  I 
ever  even  started  to  do  such  a  wicked  act,  and  I  thank 
God  I  didn't  carry  it  out,"  and  the  man  started  to  walk 
away. 

Gwen  followed  him  and  placed  her  hand  lightly 
upon  his  arm. 

"Don't  go  away  from  me  for  a  single  second,"  she 
begged.  "It  seems  I'm  destined  to  do  enough  goin^ 
away  for  both  of  us." 

"You  shouldn't  mind  that." 

"But  I  do  very  much  and  I'm  determined  to  tell  you 
why,"  she  replied. 

"You  must  not  tell  me  anything  excepting  you're 

74 


HIGH    GIRL 

going  away  to  stay  away,  and  that  after  you've  done  all 
you  can  to  tell  the  world  what  it  has  missed  by  .shoving 
me  aside,  you  will  forget  all  about  me,"  he  decreed. 

"But  it  will  be  impossible  to  forget  you,"  she  in- 
sisted. 

"Perhaps,  but  it  will  not  be  impossible  for  you  to 
remain  in  your  own  sphere  and  stay  out  of  mine,"  he  re- 
torted. 

"What  harm  would  a  little  social  visit  either  way 
do  once  in  a  while?"  she  demanded. 

"So  much  harm  that  I  tell  you  for  the  last  time, 
you  shall  never  land  on  this  island  again.  I'm  positively 
through  with  human  beings  and  that  includes  you  as  nice 
as  you  are.  Remember,  I  don't  want  you  to  come  back 
and  I  don't  want  you  to  tell  anyone  where  this  haven  of 
mine  is  located.  If  you  do — well,  no  mortal  will  ever 
succeed  in  making  a  landing  here.  I  am  going  to  live 
and  die  alone  with  my  secrets.  I  am  bound  to  teach 
humanity  a  lesson  which  I  trust  will  obliterate  the  com- 
mon tendency  of  making  ambition  a  veritable  farce." 

There  was  such  a  tremendous  note  of  sincerity  in 
the  man's  manner  of  delivering  this  ultimatum,  and  there 
was  such  a  pronounced  expression  of  dogged  determina- 
tion upon  his  face  with  its  immutable  lines  of  forceful- 
ness  that  the  girl  forthwith  decided  she  was  only  wasting 
time  in  undertaking  to  dissuade  him  in  the  least.  She 

75 


HIGH    GIRL 

realized  more  keenly  than  ever  he  was  quite  unlike  any 
other  man  she  had  ever  met  in  that  he  was  unalterably 
immune  to  all  the  wiles  of  woman  nor  could  he  be  rea- 
soned with  for  a  moment.  She  winced  when  she  thought 
of  what  a  terribly  lonely  existence  he  was  bent  on  con- 
signing himself  to  for  the  sake  of  gaining  world-wide 
attention  as  a  sad  product  of  the  whole  system  of  hu- 
man ways.  He  seemed  to  read  her  mind  at  this  junc- 
ture, for  he  added: 

"You  see,  in  order  to  be  regarded  as  really  human 
one  has  to  be  decidedly  inhuman.  I'm  only  taking  the  one 
recourse  left  open  to  me,  by  conditions  over  which  I 
never  had  any  control,  for,  naturally,  if  I  had  controlled, 
I  would  have  been  today  one  of  the  world's  most  ac- 
claimed inventors.  So,  I'm  being  inhuman  because  it  is 
the  only  way  to  appear  human  to  a  human." 

"Its  too  complex  for  me  to  understand  it,"  she  re- 
plied, "but  I  cannot  see  why  you  should  be  permanently 
beyond  the  influence  of  reconciliation." 

"The  best  way  for  me  to  answer  that  is  by  sug- 
gesting a  test.  Shall  I  ?" 

"Sure,  I  want  to  be  shown,"  she  agreed. 

"Fine !  Already  there  is  a  great  deal  of  speculation 
over  that  wild  message  of  mine,  telling  about  your  being 
stalled  mid-air — " 

"Oh  mercy,  I  had  most  forgotten  that,"  she  inter- 

76 


HIGH    GIRL 

rupted,  taking  on  a  worried  expression.  "How  will  I 
ever  explain  that  ?" 

"You  don't  need  to  explain  it;  you  can  demon- 
strate it,"  he  remarked  as  coolly  as  if  he  were  merely  dis- 
cussing the  weather. 

"I  can  demonstrate  it!"  she  repeated,  after  him 
with  much  dubiousness. 

"Yes,  before  landing  at  Mineola  you  can  circle  the 
whole  city  of  New  York  and  make  them  all  gasp  by  stop- 
ping dead  still  at  any  height  you  choose  for  a  full  five 
minutes,"  he  announced  with  a  confident  smile  in  which 
could  be  discerned  the  triumphant. 

"You  don't  mean "  she  fairly  gasped. 

"I  mean,"  he  interrupted,  "that  you  have  a  combina- 
tion of  automatic  stabilizer  and  mechanical  aerial  anchor- 
age on  your  machine  now.  It  is  not  only  a  solution,  but 
a(  perfection  of  a  solution  to  the  problem  which  has  beset 
inventors  from  the  day  that  the  dangers  of  falling  became 
apparent." 

"You  are  really  serious?"  she  inquired  as  doubt 
persisted  to  infest  her  mind. 

"Yes,  and  you  will  be  within  an  hour's  time,"  he 
reassured  her.  "However,  here's  the  test — stop  mid- 
air for  five  minutes  over  the  heart  of  New  York  City. 
Then  when  you  finally  alight,  do  a  lot  of  bragging  about 
the  wonderful  attachments  on  your  plane,  and  if  you 

77 


HIGH    GIRL 

don't  get  absolute  evidence  of  not  one  but  several  men 
trying  to  unfairly  deprive  you  of  your  rights  to  the  me- 
chanism, and  within  forty-eight  hours,  I  am  the  biggest 
fool  that  ever  lived.  When  you  see  for  yourself  how 
eager  a  lot  of  thieves  of  high  social  and  business  stand- 
ing are  to  appropriate  or  steal  what  seeems  to  be  a 
good  thing,  you  will  very  plainly  understand  why  I  can- 
not be  reconciled.  Why,  if  I  could  get  back  to  America 
or  to  any  other  country  with  all  of  my  inventions,  I 
know  I  would  not  get  more  than  one-thousandth  of  the 
credit  due  me,  and  I  might  continue  my  old-time  luck 
which  did  not  net  me  one  iota." 

"But,  of  course,  you  have  not  taken  into  considera- 
tion that  possibly  you  were  simply  unluckkr  than  others 
and—" 

"Unluckier  than  others!"  he  exclaimed.  "Why, 
there  are  millions  of  men  and  women,  every  one  of  them 
a  true  aspirant,  who  are  much  more  luckless  than  I  am." 
He  paused  a  moment  to  let  a  smile  play  across  his 
countenance  and  then  he  added  with  bitter  irony:  "I 
was  very  fortunate !  Just  see  what  wonderful  things  it 
brought  me!" 

Gwen  blinked  her  eyes  in  renewed  wonderment  as 
she  glanced  around  the  barren  island  for  one  solitary 
thing  to  be  thankful  for.  She  shuddered.  He  noted 
the  shudder  and  laughed  loudly  more  in  derision  than 

78 


HIGH    GIRL 

in  merriment. 

********** 

The  eastern  skies  were  rapidly  becoming  brighter. 
Hope  had  just  finished  instructing  Gwen  how  to  operate 
the  new  attachments  he  had  installed  on  her  seaplane. 
All  was  in  readiness  for  the  flight  which  the  plucky  avia- 
trix  was  sure  would  be  fateful.  Inwardly  she  was  some- 
what of  a  fatalist  and  Hope's  peculiar  pessimism  and 
undying  chagrin  had  at  last  become  sufficiently  contagious 
to  engulf  all  the  inherent  gay  spirits  she  ever  had.  She 
was  ostensibly  worried,  but  in  reality  she  was  deep  in 
mental  anguish.  Her  very  heart  ached.  It  was  to  be  the 
saddest  leavetaking  of  her  young,  vivacious  life. 

She  would  have  gladly  remained  on  that  dreary 
island  indefinitely  with  this  man  who  confessed  having 
planned  on  murdering  her.  There  was  something  mag- 
netic, even  hypnotic  about  him.  In  her  estimation  he 
was  a  great  genius,  worthy  of  unbounded  admiration, 
and  she  did  admire  him  almost  excessively.  She  was 
telling  herself  especially  this  as  she  sat  beside  her  new- 
found hero  in  the  fuselage  of  her  machine  while  he  was 
making  a  final  adjustment  of  a  switch.  Her  steadfast 
gaze  was  upon  his  solemn  face.  She  waited  to  say  some- 
thing to  him,  but  she  was  at  last  too  resigned  to  the  in- 
evitable to  summon  much  courage  and  she  knew  it  was 
certain  he  would  promptly  counter  with  a  disheartening 

79 


HIGH    GIRL 

rebuff.  Not  once  did  this  little  Gwen  think  of  the  perils 
of  the  aerial  voyage  she  was  about  to  undertake  alone. 
Her  whole  mind  was  concentrated  upon  irrepressible 
regret  over  the  conditions  under  which  she  was  soon  to 
bid  farewell  to  a  man  she  would  like  to  associate  with 
more. 

Hope  sensed  her  sad  ruminations  and  when  he  was 
finally  satisfied  that  he  had  done  all  in  his  power  to  make 
her  plane  safe  and  secure,  he  met  her  gaze  without 
flinching. 

"Now  you're  ready  to  go — a  God-speed,"  he  said. 

Her  lips  trembled  and  she  could  not  utter  a  sound. 

"Come,  come,  girlie,  don't  be  a  fool,"  he  urged  as 
he  divined  what  this  meant. 

Her  reply  was  only  a  steadier  stare. 

"Why  don't  you  say  something  just  for  the  sake  of 
relieving  the  tension  from  which  you  are  suffering?"  he 
asked  with  a  slight  show  of  impatience. 

Thereupon  tears  welled  up  in  the  girl's  big  blue  soul- 
ful eyes. 

"Please  don't  do  that,"  he  beseeched  as  he  grappled 
with  a  rising  sympathy. 

All  the  words  the  poor  girl  wanted  to  say  were 
choked  off  by  her  oncoming  emotion,  and  in  despair  she 
covered  her  fair  face  with  her  hands  and  sobbed  con- 
vulsively. Hope  withstood  this  as  long  as  he  possibly 

80 


HIGH    GIRL 

could  and  then  he  weakened.  Tenderly  he  slipped  his 
arm  around  Gwen's  slender  waist  and  after  hesitating 
momentarily  he  drew  her  closer  to  him. 

"It  is  for  your  sake,  little  girl — I  am  saving  you 
from  a  futile,  unhappy  life  by  sending  you  away  for- 
ever," he  whispered.  "I  could  never  love  you  or  any 
other  human  being  again,  but  I  regard  you  as  my  only 
friend  and — now — good-bye." 

She  pressed  her  face  more  firmly  into  her  hands. 
He  studied  her  for  a  moment.  Then  he  gently  pulled 
those  white,  shapely  hands  away  and  placing  his  own 
rough  hand  under  her  chin,  raised  her  head  until  he  forc- 
ed her  to  look  at  him  squarely  in  the  eyes.  A  wan  smile 
crept  over  her  face  and  a  love  unmistakable  gleamed  out 
penetrating  the  man's  big  heart.  Almost  violently  he- 
pressed  her  to  his  bosom,  kissing  her  fervently  and  she 
was  supremely  happy,  but  not  so  happy  that  she  did  not 
realize  Given  C.  Hope's  act  of  strong  devotion  belied  his 
denials  of  fostering  affection. 

However,  the  joy  was  of  a  winged  moment.  Hope 
released  the  girl  from  his  embrace  abruptly  and  leaped 
out  of  the  machine. 

"Now  go!"  he  shouted  as  soon  as  he  got  his  foot- 
ing on  the  sand. 

"And  come  back  ?"  she  asked  imploringly. 

"No,  never !"  he  yelled. 

81 


HIGH    GIRL 

"I  will  come  back,"  she  asserted  emphatically. 

"And  if  you  do  there  will  be  naught  but  tragedy — 
we  will  both  perish,"  he  warned. 

"Just  the  same  I  will  not  say  good-bye,"  she  replied 
boldly  as  she  started  her  engine. 

An  instant  later  she  released  her  anchor  and  the 
plane  shot  out  to  sea  with  a  mighty  roar.  Never  did 
an  air-going  craft  rise  more  gracefully.  Never  did  a 
pilot  execute  a  more  perfect  circle  prior  to  embarking  on 
a  flight. 

Given  C.  Hope  watched  this  wonderful  transport  of 
the  girl  he  knew  loved  him  until  it  passed  beyond  the 
range  of  his  vision.  Then  most  frantically  he  rushed  to 
the  cove  where  his  boat  was  moored  and  began  working 
upon  it  with  desperate  haste  as  if  he  were  bent  on  put- 
ting to  sea  at  the  earliest  moment ! 


HIGH    GIRL 
CHAPTER  VIII. 


SENSATIONS  IN  NEW  YORK. 


EXACTLY  at  four  o'clock  that  afternoon  a  giant  sea- 
plane descended  straight  down,  right  side  up  as 
an  elevator,  out  of  space  twelve  thousand  feet  above  the 
earth's  surface.  When  it  ceased  to  descend  it  was  only 
about  two  hundred  feet  above  the  roof-tops  of  the  vicin- 
ity of  Times  Square,  the  busiest  spot  in  New  York  City. 
At  that  low  altitude  the  strange  machine  stopped  dead 
still,  hanging,  as  gracefully  mid-air  as  if  it  were  a  cap- 
tive balloon.  Thousands  of  people  witnessed  this  unusual 
spectacle  and  never  was  gasping  so  general  in  this  blase 
section  of  America's  most  cosmopolitan  metropolis.  Ex- 
clamations of  surprise  were  shouted  so  loudly  and  there 
was  such  a  scurrying  for  the  most  advantageous  positions 
from  which  to  get  a  good  view  of  the  plane  that  the 
crowded  streets  became  a  veritable  bedlam  of  tense  ex- 
citement. 

"What  is  it  ?"  was  asked  a  hundred  times  a  second. 

"Who  is  it?"  was  asked  even  more  frequently. 

While  most  everyone  was  demanding  in  unrestrain- 
ed awe : 

"What  does  it  mean?" 

No  one  thought  of  automatic  stability ;  no  one  dream- 

83 


HIGH    GIRL 

ed  of  such  a  thing  as  an  aerial  anchorage.  It  was  either 
a  miracle  or  a  strange  accident. 

Then  dozens  of  newspaper  reporters  got  on  the 
scene  and  they  were  naturally  the  first  ones  to  remember 
the  queer  wireless  announcing  Gwen  Dale's  unbelievable 
predicament  over  the  Azores.  True,  the  whole  press 
had  ridiculed  the  idea  of  an  aeroplane  being  stalled  mid- 
air and  had  attributed  the  sending  of  the  message  to  that 
effect  to  someone  with  a  penchant  for  practical  joking. 
Now  quite  unexpectedly  a  demonstration  of  the  easy 
possibility  of  bringing  about  such  a  condition  at  will  was 
being  given  and  the  rumor  that  it  was  Gwen  Dale,  the 
greatest  American  aviatrix,  calmly  resting  high  in  the 
air  over  Manhattan,  spread  like  wild-fire  when  once  the 
newspaper  men  started  it. 

Two  full  minutes  after  the  machine  had  become 
stationary,  the  head  of  a  laughing  girl  was  discovered 
looking  down  over  the  edge  of  the  fuselage  of  the  mon- 
ster of  the  air.  She  waved  her  hand  energetically 
whereupon  a  mighty  cheer  went  up  from  thousands  of 
throats.  After  the  tumult  died  down  the  girl  placed  her 
hands  to  her  mouth  as  a  megaphone  and  shouted : 

"Tell  the  world  it's  Gwen  Dale  in  the  greatest  flying 
'machine  the  world  has  ever  seen — the  invention  of 
the  greatest  genius  alive.  He's  in  oblivion  and  his  name 
is  Given  C.  Hope." 

84 


HIGH    GIRL 

Many  people  in  the  upper  stories  of  the  higher  build- 
ings heard  every  word  of  this  impromptu  speech.  Sev- 
eral reporters  were  among  those  who  were  able  to  get 
the  statement  down  verbatim. 

Exactly  two  minutes  later  the  daring  pilot  waved  a 
good-bye  and  the  seaplane  darted  off  towards  Long 
Island,  climbing  steadily  to  a  higher  altitude.  Not  many 
minutes  afterward  she  made  a  successful  landing  near 
Mineola  and  stood  safely  on  terra  firma  surrounded  by 
scores  of  amazed  though  congratulating  people,  who  had 
suddenly  appeared  on  the  scene  as  if  by  magic. 

"Bring  the  newspaper  men  to  me  as  quickly  as  pos- 
sible," the  girl  requested  of  military  and  naval  officers 
of  the  aviation  corps  who  had  hastened  to  her  side. 
"Arrange  for  giving  me  a  private  hangar  for  my  plane 

too,"  she  ordered  in  the  next  breath. 

#*#*#*###* 

The  clock  was  just  striking  seven  when  Gwen  Dale 
walked  into  her  Riverside  Drive  apartment.  She  was 
warmly  greeted  by  her  sturdy  father  and  hysterically 
embraced  by  her  overjoyed  mother.  It  was  like  the 
resurrection  of  the  dead  for  this  aged  couple,  because 
they  had  hours  before  given  up  all  hope  of  ever  seeing 
their  daughter  again.  The  girl  laughed  at  their  words 
of  apprehension. 

"Why,  you  two  dears,  you  shouldn't  have  worried 

85 


HIGH    GIRL 

a  minute,  because  there  never  was  a  girl  in  safer  hands 
and  then  in  a  safer  machine  than  I  was,"  she  said  re- 
assuringly. 

"'But  how  did  it  ever  all  happen?"  both  parents 
asked  simultaneously. 

"Here,  let's  all  read  these  and  find  out,"  she  sug- 
gested as  she  yanked  a  bundle  of  newspapers  from  un- 
der her  arm. 

With  almost  breathless  eagerness  the  parents  read 
"the  big  story  of  the  day,"  in  which  their  daughter  was 
the  heroine.  Every  newspaper  had  featured  the  account 
extraordinary  of  her  experiences  far  out  over  the  At- 
lantic. Much  space  was  devoted  to  the  girl's  statement 
relative  to  "the  genius  in  oblivion"  to  whom  she  gave  full 
credit  for  converting  her  seaplane  into  the  marvel  of  the 
whole  aeronautic  age.  When  the  father  discovered  the 
announcement  of  his  daughter's  intention  to  fly  to  Europe 
and  back  immediately,  he  almost  swooned. 

"No,  no,  Gwen  dear,  you  mustn't  ever  attempt  that 
hazardous  trip  again,  you  must  not,"  he  protested  vigor- 
ously. 

"Oh,  but  I  must  for  the  sake  of  science  and — "  She 
could  not  finish  the  sentence.  Instead  she  suddenly  burst 
into  most  violent  weeping. 

Completely  overwhelmed  by  this  sudden  change  of 
demeanor,  both  the  father  and  mother  placed  their  arms 

P6 


HIGH   GIRL 

around  the  girl.    The  father  was  first  to  find  his  voice. 

"Why,  what's  the  matter?"  he  asked  in  utter  be- 
wilderment. 

"Everything,  everything,"  she"  cried.  "Let  me  go 
to  my  room  and  be  alone  a  while." 

"It's  her  nerves  gone  to  pieces,"  the  mother  divined. 
"She  must  have  rest." 

"Yes,  yes,  and  weeks  of  it,"  the  father  agreed  as  he 
lifted  his  beloved  offspring  into  his  arms  and  carried  her 
to  her  own  room. 

It  required  many  minutes  of  earnest  pleading  on 
Gwen's  part  to  persuade  her  parents  to  leave  her  alone 
in  her  room.  They  were  extremely  anxious  over  her 
condition,  but  finally  decided  it.  would  be  best  to  yield 
to  her  for  the  nonce. 

"I  shall  change  my  clothes  and  join  you  very  soon," 
she  told  them  as  they  reluctantly  departed. 

"And  I'll  summon  our  physician;  he'll  quiet  your 
nerves,"  the  father  replied. 

"No,  please  don't  call  the  doctor,"  the  girl  begged. 
"No  doctor  can  do  me  any  good.  Anyway  my  trouble  is 
not  physical  or  mental  and  I  can  cure  myself  in  my  own 
way  if  you  two  good  darlings  will  only  not  worry." 

The  father  instinctively  knew  it  would  net  him  little 
to  argue  with  his  daughter,  and,  shaking  his  head  du- 
biously, he  escorted  his  good  wife  out  of  the  room. 

87 


HIGH    GIRL 

Once  alone  Gwen  sat  down  wearily  in  a  large  cush- 
ioned chair  as  she  smothered  an  appeal  to  God  for  aid. 
Then  for  minutes  she  stared  straight  into  the  wall  with- 
out realizing  it  was  there.  All  she  saw  was  the  man  of 
her  heart  on  the  lonely  island  away  out  at  sea.  All  she 
could  hear  was  his  voice.  His  words  kept  reverberating 
in  her  whirling  brain.  His  magnificent  achievements  re- 
curred to  her  and  her  admiration  for  his  genius  grew 
manifold.  Then  when  she  recalled  his  declarations  of 
determination  to  go  through  with  his  plans  of  making 
himself  a  martyr  to  the  cause  of  humble  aspiration,  she 
shuddered.  "Oh,  if  he  could  only  reconcile  himself  to 
another  attempt  to  realize  his  ambitions,"  she  muttered 
"He'd  surely  go  down  in  history  as  the  greatest  inventor 
of  all  times."  Then  she  recalled  his  story  of  how  he 
had  been  ruthlessly  crushed  down  during  many  years  of 
assiduous  effort  to  establish  himself,  and  at  first  she 
could  not  understand  how  it  had  ever  happened  thus. 
However,  quick  as  a  flash  it  dawned  upon  her  once 
more  that  after  all  she  knew  man's  system  of  doing 
things  almost  totally  lacked  any  semblance  of  altruism. 
"Ah,  we  do  need  more  of  the  help-the-other-fellow  spir- 
it," she  told  herself.  "There  is  too  much  grasping  and 
grabbing,  something  a  sensitive  soul  cannot  endure  and 
oh,  how  sensitive  he  is!" 

Gwen  would  have  probably  continued  her  musing 

88 


HIGH    GIRL 

until  midnight,  but  a  gentle  rap  at  the  door  aroused  her. 

"What  is  it?"  she  demanded  as  if  vexed. 

"There  are  several  newspaper  men  here  to  see  you, 
dear,"  her  indulgent  mother  announced.  "Shall  I  tell 
them  you  are  too  ill  to  talk  to  them?" 

"No,  tell  them  to  be  sure  and  wait,"  she  replied.  "I 
\vill  be  dressed  and  out  there  in  less  than  ten  minutes." 

Only  a  definite  incentive  could  make  anyone  accom- 
plish a  task  as  rapidly  as  Gwen  Dale  discarded  her  flying 
attire  and  donned  a  pretty,  little  pale  blue  silk  dress, 
which  accentuated  her  beauty.  She  rearranged  her  hair 
in  less  time  than  most  men  take  to  "find  the  part,"  and 
she  powdered  her  whole  face  and  neck  in  about  two 
seconds.  Thus  it  came  about  that  she  was  presenting  her- 
self to  ten  gentlemen  of  the  press  in  less  than  ten  min- 
utes. 

"You  are  welcome,  my  dear  sirs,  and  I  have  much 
to  tell  you  in  addition  to  what  the  evening  papers  had," 
she  announced  smilingly. 

A  rather  tall  and  handsome  young  man  stepped 
forward  and  warmly  grasped  her  extended  hand.  Intel- 
ligence was  written  all  over  his  smooth-shaven  face  and 
his  amiable  disposition  shone  forth  like  a  bright  star  in 
the  night.  He  smiled  as  he  spoke  in  low,  pleasing  tones. 

"Miss  Dale,  I  am  happy  to  congratulate  you  upon 
your  remarkable  achievements,"  he  said,  holding  on  to  her 

89 


HIGH    GIRL     . 

hand.  "I  am  also  happy  to  inform  you  that  I  have  the 
honor  of  being  appointed  spokesman  for  this  group  of 
rather  distinguished  gentlemen,  for  they  are  all  special 
writers  or  editors  of  New  York  papers,  while  I  happen  to 
represent  the  Associated  Press."  , 

"Oh,  the  newspapers  honor  me  by  sending  their 
best  to  cover  this  story,"  she  replied  with  sincere  gratifi- 
cation. "Shall  I  proceed  to  tell  my  story?" 

"Surely  and  I  trust  you  will  not  mind  if  I  ask  many 
questions  as  we  go  along,"  the  spokesman  answered. 

"First,  may  I  not  know  your  name,  sir?"  she  asked 
rather  coquettishly. 

"Most  assuredly,  I  am  Floyd  Cooper  Davis." 

"A  good  American  name  and  I  am  sure  you  will  be 
in  hearty  sympathy  with  all  the  extremely  unusual  points 
I  am  about  to  bring  up,"  she  acknowledged. 

"I  shall  be  glad  if  I  can  serve  you  in  any  way,"  he 
assured  graciously. 

"Thank  you.  Now  pray  all  be  seated  and  pardon 
me  for  standing,  because,  frankly,  I  am  bent  on  actually 
making  a  speech."  She  smiled  gloriously  as  the  gentle- 
men took  seats.  "My  subject  shall  be,"  she  continued 
thoughtfully,  "Why  Leave  Genius  in  Oblivion?" 

Expressions  of  surprise  swept  over  the  faces  of  those 
assembled  around  her. 

"Yes,  I  know  you  expected  the  usual  hair-raising 


HIGH   GIRL 

account  of  a  thrilling  battle  with  the  elements  and  all  of 
that,  but  I  had  little  of  it.  Instead  I  met  upon  an  un- 
charted island  the  most  remarkable  man  of  his  time,  a 
man  more  remarkable  than  ever,  due  to  the  fact  that  h<» 
is  a  rank  unknown." 

Then  the  girl  pictured  in  detail  the  night  of  revela- 
tions, explaining  the  wonderful  inventions  of  the  man 
she  was  so  prone  to  laud  without  thought  of  what  sort 
of  a  position  it  placed  her  in  under  the  circumstances. 
Next  she  told  of  how  the  creator  of  these  useful  devices 
had  been  pushed  aside  during  his  struggles  in  the  heart 
of  civilization  and  she  excoriated  the  conditions  which 
made  it  so  difficult  for  a  lowly  person  to  get  a  start  in 
most  any  line  of  worth-while  endeavor. 

"Now  I  call  this  a  shining  demonstration  of  the 
criminal  folly  of  not  systematically  allowing  every  as- 
pirant to  submit  to  a  test  which  will  scientifically  deter- 
mine his  or  her  talent,"  she  continued.  "Given  C.  Hope 
was  not  only  neglected  to  the  extent  of  not  being  given 
even  a  mere  chance,  but  he  was  scorned  and  rudely  side- 
tracked every  time  he  dared  to  enlist  friends  who  would 
help  to  push  him  forward.  Yet,  some  of  the  most  use- 
ful devices  now  in  vogue  were  based  upon  ideas  he  con- 
ceived, and  he  never  received  even  a  vote  of  thanks,  let 
alone  a  decent  living.  And  the  most  wonderful  part  of  it 
all  is,  his  unpleasant  experiences  did  not  make  a  Social- 

91 


HIGH    GIRL 

ist  out  of  him.  He  was  too  practical  to  believe  the  prin- 
ciples of  Socialism  would  help  him  any.  He  wanted  no 
one  to  divide  up  their  lot  with  him ;  he  simply  wanted  to 
give  the  world  all  he  had  or  could  create  for  the  honor 
there  was  in  it  and  a  fair  pecuniary  reward.  But,  try  as 
he  might,  he  could  not  get  even  this  and  in  utter  disgust, 
he  set  out  on  the  high  seas  alone  in  a  flimsy  craft  and 
landed  on  an  uninhabited,  little  island,  which  surely  can- 
not withstand  the  pounding  of  the  mighty  breakers  any 
too  long. 

"In  conclusion,  I  wish  to  announce  publicly  that  I 
intend  to  fly  back  to  that  island  with  proper  escort  to 
attempt  to  induce  Mr.  Hope  to  return  to  us  and  prove 
the  grounds  for  my  enthusiastic  faith  in  his  ability.  I 
also  wish  to  publicly  scold  all  mortals  who  overlook  the 
duty  of  doing  a  bit  towards  exploring  the  untraversed 
regions  for  new  talent.  Every  man  and  woman  owe  it 
to  humanity  in  general  to  help  the  other  fellow  for  the 
sake  of  making  helpfulness  a  universally  accessible  in- 
fluence for  good,  for  the  uplift.  Let  there  be  more  of 
the  altruistic  ideal  and  the  best  men  in  every  line  of 
work  will  not  live  and  die  in  obscurity." 

There  was  not  the  least  doubt  as  to  the  deep  im- 
pression Gwen  Dale's  impassioned  words  made  upon  her 
auditors.  Even  the  affable,  never-ill-at-ease  spokesman 
was  speechless  for  a  full  minute  after  she  finished.  Her 

92 


HIGH   GIRL 

sweet  smile  encouraged  him  to  rally  and  he  arose  ab- 
ruptly, crossing  to  her  all  enthusiasm. 

"I  see  it  all,  Miss  Dale,"  he  declared.  "I  see  in  this 
a  most  useful  object  lesson  for  all  peoples.  I  can  readily 
understand  man-made  fate  can  consign  untold  thousands 
of  deserving  aspirants  to  the  scrap-heap  of  human  dere- 
licts. I — I — am  anxious  to  do  my  utmost  to  drive  home 
this  tremendous  point  in  question.  I  would  even  be 
wildly  elated  if  it  could  be  possible  for  me  to  be  among 
those  who  will  accompany  you  on  your  return  flight  to 
the  little  land  of  this  rare  genius." 

"It  can  be  arranged  and  I  shall  have  it  arranged, 
for  I  want  the  press  represented,"  she  promptly  accepted. 

"Great!"  he  exclaimed.  "It  is  the  very  adventure  I 
have  always  longed  for.  Meanwhile,  we  shall  see  to  it 
that  the  engrossing  story  of  Given  C.  Hope  gains  the 
widest  possible  circulation." 

"I  am  very  grateful  to  you,  and,  oh  yes,  he  sug- 
gested a  test  of  man's  fairness,  a  test — oh  goodness — I 
had  most  forgotten  it — I  must  hurry  to  Mineola  without 
a  moment's  delay." 

"Oh  my  dear!"  interjected  Gwen's  mother,  coming 
forward  from  an  obscure  corner  where  she  had  unos- 
tentatiously sat  throughout  the  interview.  "You  must 
not  go  down  there  tonight." 

"Mother,  I  hate  to  disregard  your  wishes,  but  some- 

93 


HIGH    GIRL 

thing  very  important  calls  me  to  my  hangar  at  once,"  the 
girl  explained,  trying  to  show  tolerance. 

"Possibly  I  could  go  for  you,"  Davis  suggested. 

"No,  it  is  something  requiring  my  personal  atten- 
tion," she  replied. 

"It  has  to  do  with  a  test  ?"  he  queried. 

"Yes,  and  some  way  I  just  feel  it  in  my  bones  that 
I'll  discover  something  sensational  if  I  can  only  get  to 
my  machine  in  time." 

"More  news?" 

"Yes,  perhaps." 

"Then  wouldn't  it  be  entirely  proper  for  me  to  ac- 
company you?" 

Davis'  manner  was  so  genteel  and  he  made  sug- 
gestions with  such  admirable  restraint  that  he  won  the 
confidence  of  not  only  Gwen  but  her  mother  as  well. 

"I  guess  mother  would  have  no  objections  to  my 
accepting  the  offer  of  such  a  distinguished  gentleman," 
the  girl  said  looking  at  her  mother. 

"No,  dear,  if  you  feel  you  must  go,  I  would  be  less 
worried  if  Mr.  Davis  escorted  you,"  was  the  maternal 
response. 

"I  really  must  go  and  with  all  possible  speed,"  Gwen 
reiterated  as  she  turned  to  hasten  out  of  the  room  for 
her  hat. 

"If  you'll  direct  me  to  the  'phone,  I'll  call  a  taxi- 

94 


HIGH    GIRL 

cab,"  Davis  told  the  mother. 

*********** 

It  was  nearly  midnight  when  Gwen.  and  Davis  step- 
ped out  of  the  taxicab  a  short  distance  from  the  hangar 
in  which  her  seaplane  was  stored.  After  instructing  the 
driver  to  await  them  there,  they  cautiously  made  their 
way  through  an  adjoining  open  field.  Gwen  had  told 
Davis  of  her  suspicions  based  on  Hope's  prediction  of 
unfairness  within  forty-eight  hours  after  her  landing. 
She  also  explained  how  an  uncontrollable  notion  fairly 
dragged  her  to  her  precious  machine. 

'  They  had  not  advanced  more  than    two    hundred 
yards  when  Gwen  sighted  her  hangar. 

"Oh  see,  there's  a  light  in  the  building,"  she  whis- 
pered excitedly. 

"Isn't  that  to  be  expected?"    Davis  asked. 

"Not  at  all,"  she  declared.  "We  must  some  way 
get  up  to  the  building  and  see  what's  going  on  without 
being  discovered." 

This  was  not  to  be  easily  accomplished,  as  there 
were  guards  everywhere  about  the  place. 

"The  safest  plan  is  to  crawl  along,  staying  close 
to  the  ground,"  the  girl  suggested. 

"I  fear  even  that  plan  is  not  sufficiently  safe  for 
you,"  Davis  replied.  "Suppose  you  wait  in  the  taxi 
while  I  do  the  detective  work  alone — " 

95 


HIGH    GIRL 

"No,  I'm  not  such  a  molly-coddle,"  she  refused  re- 
sentfully as  she  crawled  forward  nimbly. 

"You  are  admirably  courageous  and  determined," 
he  observed  as  he  struggled  to  keep  apace  with  the  fair 
and  fearless  leader. 

A  moment  later  a  stern  male  voice  in  the  rear  yell- 
ed: "Halt!"  The  crawling  girl  and  man  dropped  in- 
stinctively on  their  stomachs  and  laid  perfectly  mo- 
tionless. Davis  heard  a  crackling  of  broken  sticks  im- 
mediately behind  him  and  he  turned  his  head  in  time 
to  see  the  crouching  form  of  a  uniformed  man  picking 
his  way  toward  him  with  a  drawn  revolver.  It  was  no 
time  for  inactivity  nor  was  it  advisable  to  issue  a  chal- 
lenge, so  Davis  wisely  resorted  to  frankness,  couched  in 
suave  diplomatic  terms. 

"We  surrender,  sir,"  he'called  in  subdued  tones. 

"Up  on  your  feet  and  up  with  your  hands  or  get  a 
shot,"  ordered  the  voice  in  the  dark. 

Davis  promptly  obeyed,  and,  upon  noting  that  his 
companion  failed  to  comply,  he  whispered  distinctly: 

"Obey,  Miss  Dale." 

"Miss  Dale!"  the  voice  of  the  officer  exclaimed. 
"Gwen  Dale,  the  aviatrix?" 

"Yes,"  admitted  the  girl  as  she  arose  quickly  to  her 
feet,  "and  I'm  here  on  a  very  important  mission  requir- 
ing absolute  secrecy.  Can  we  count  on  you,  sir,  as  a 

96 


HIGH    GIRL 

friend  in  the  name  of  justice?" 

The  officer  advanced  close  to  Gwen  and  peered  into 
her  face,  at  once  recognizing  her. 

"Well,  I'll  be  damned,"  he  ejaculated.  "What's  up?" 

"Help  us  to  get  a  peep  into  my  hangar  without  any- 
one getting  onto  our  presence  and  I  may  tell  you  what's 
up,"  she  proposed. 

"Don't  you  trust  those  mechanicians?"  the  officer 
asked. 

"What  mechanicians?"  she  demanded. 

"The  fellows  who  are  working  on  your  machine," 
he  explained. 

"There  you  are!"  the  girl  exclaimed.  "I  knew 
something  was  wrong.  I  ordered  that  my  plane  be  left 
alone  until  I  returned  tomorrow.  No  human  being  has 
the  least  right  to  go  near  it  without  my  consent  and  I 
have  given  no  one  such  consent." 

"Then  I  would  suggest  that  we  lose  no  time  in  get- 
ting a  squint  into  that  hangar,"  Davis  urged  as  he  took 
the  leadership  in  advancing. 

"Go  ahead  and  I'll  keep  in  the  background  to  stall 
off  other  guards,"  the  officer  assented. 

Thus  did  the  couple  have  good  fortune  in  promptly 
reaching  a  small  window  through  which  they  could  see 
everything  and  everyone  inside  the  hangar.  What  did 
they  see?  A  complete  vindication  of  Given  C.  Hope's 

97 


HIGH    GIRL 

pessimistic  estimation  of  man's  scruples  was  being  fev- 
erishly enacted  by  no  less  than  a  dozen  men  assembled 
around  and  on  Gwen  Dale's  seaplane. 

There  was  a  very  indignant  and  angry  expression 
on  her  face  as  she  took  a  calm  survey  of  the  men  and 
their  obviously  unfair  activities.  One  man  whom  she 
recognized  as  a  well-known  aeronautical  engineer  was 
sitting  in  her  seat  engrossed  in  jotting  down  notes.  She 
actually  gasped  when  she  espied  an  inventor  who  had 
once  proposed  marriage  to  her.  He  was  studiously  ex- 
amining a  set  of  curious  flappers  on  one  of  the  wings. 
He  was  plainly  puzzled.  He  could  not  figure  out  their 
usefulness.  Another  man  whom  Gwen  knew  well — a 
pioneer  among  dare-devil  flyers — was  carefully  measur- 
ing the  "ground  anchor,"  which  Hope  had  attached  to 
the  main  structure  of  the  airship.  Three  other  men,  none 
of  whom  she  knew,  had  their  heads  together  in  earnest 
conference.  The  most  loquacious  of  this  trio  kept  point- 
ing to  a  chain  of  weights  extending  from  behind  the  pro- 
peller to  the  top  of  one  of  the  pontoons.  Still  another 
notable  in  aeroplane  construction  was  examining  some 
blue-print  plans  he  held  in  his  left  hand  while  his  nervous 
right  hand  kept  ploughing  through  his  long,  sandy  hair. 

"What  do  you  think  of  this?"  the  girl  finally  asked 
Davis  who  saw  and  understood  all. 

"I  think  it's  a  damnable  outrage  being  perpetrated 

98 


HIGH    GIRL 

by  a  bunch  of  crooks  every  one  of  whom  I'll  go  in  there 
and  lick  soundly  if  such  procedure  will  not  spoil  any  of 
your  plans,"  was  his  inspiring  response. 

"Bravo!"  she  whispered  enthusiastically.  "But  I 
think  the  tongue-lashing  I  plan  will  suffice  for  such  cow- 
ardly cheats."  She  paused  to  take  another  glance  inside 
and  then  continued :  "And  do  you  know  that  I  recognize 
most  of  those  men  as  prominent  and  honored  members 
of  the  highest  aeronautic  circles?" 

"I  know  two  of  them  myself,"  Davis  replied. 

"And  they  are  all  deliberately  trying  to  steal  the 
valuable  ideas  of  another  man,"  she  observed.  "Is  it  any 
wonder  Mr.  Hope  became  disgusted  and  gave  up  if  this 
is  what  he  could  not  successfully  combat  ?" 

"Giving  up  would  not  have  been  my  way,"  Davis 
declared  rather  bitterly.  "I  would  have  fought  like  an 
infuriated  lion.  No  gentle-as-a-lamb  tactics  will  do  in 
this  world  of  strife.  Let  me  go  ahead  in  there  and  I'll 
show  you  what  I  mean." 

Gwen  could  not  suppress  a  chuckle.  She  liked  the 
kind  of  virile  spirit  Davis  was  manifesting.  She  was 
not  without  fighting  proclivities  herself,  and  there  was 
glory  in  waging  most  open  warfare  now. 

"Gee,  I'm  glad  you're  with  me  on  this  occasion," 
she  murmured  as  she  squeezed  her  escort's  arm.  "I'll  go 
in  first  and  do  my  little  act  and  you  follow  whenever  you 

99 


HIGH   GIRL 

think  it  will  be  opportune." 

"Good!  Go  ahead!"  he  urged  as  if  anxious  to  get 
into  action. 

Without  faltering  the  girl  marched  quite  majesti- 
cally into  the  hangar. 

"Gentlemen?"  she  yelled  very  questioningly  by  way 
of  announcing  herself. 

A  panic  was  precipitated.  Every  man  thus  con- 
fronted had  a  guilty  conscience  and  betrayed  it.  Not  one 
of  them  had  the  least  excuse  to  offer  for  being  on  the 
spot.  Every  cheater  of  them  was  amazed  over  the  un- 
expected visit  of  the  most  talked-of  girl  in  America,  and 
every  cheater  feared  her  wrath.  Nor  did  she  keep  them 
waiting  long. 

"You  crooks  of  pretended  respectability,"  she  be- 
gan. "You  personification  of  the  chief  bane  of  this 
existence  of  ours!  Thieves  of  the  night  and  none  of 
you  stop  your  thieving  in  daylight  hours  either."  She 
paused  long  enough  to  shake  her  finger  accusingly  at 
the  startled  group.  "Now,"  she  fairly  yelled,  "now  I'm 
going  to  expose  every  one  of  you." 

"Aw  hell,  choke  her  and  throw  her  out,"  shouted 
one  of  the  trio  Gwen  did  not  know. 

Instantly  Floyd  Cooper  Davis  sprang  to  the  girl's 
side  and  he,  too,  was  recognized  by  most  of*  the  men 
present. 

100 


HIGH    GIRL 

"Let  any  one  of  you  curs  make  a  hostile  move  and 
I'll  wallop  the  whole  crowd  of  you,"  he  warned. 

Davis  waited  a  moment  for  someone  to  make  a 
move,  but  no  one  stirred. 

"Now  as  a  representative  of  the  Associated  Press, 
I  want  the  name,  occupation  and  address  of  every  man 
here,"  he  continued.  "Out  of  a  spirit  of  fairness  I  will 
permit  each  of  you  to  make  a  statement  as  to  what  your 
motives  are  and  who  gave  you  authority  to  take  liberties 
with  this  seaplane." 

Oh,  the  squirming  this  caused!  The  only  man  who 
did  not  seem  to  be  much  ruffled  was  the  one  who  sug- 
gested rough  treatment  for  the  girl.  He  turned  a  sweep- 
ing gaze  on  his  fellow-culprits  and  demanded: 

"Say,  are  we  going  to  let  this  guy  get  away  with 
this?" 

No  one  answered  promptly,  but  Davis  was  punctual 
in  removing  his  coat.  Then  the  inventor  who  had  once 
professed  an  ardent  love  for  the  girl  he  was  now  taking 
advantage  of  intercepted : 

"I  would  advise  most  humble  apologies  and  an  im- 
mediate withdrawal,"  he  said. 

"I  should  think  you  would,"  Gwen  'Dale  retorted 
derisively. 

The  one  thus  addressed  simply  hung  his  head  low 
and  started  to  make  his  exit. 

101 


HIGH    GIRL 

"Your  name,  sir,"  commanded  Davis  leaping  in  his 
pathway. 

"Oh,  I  know  him  and  all  the  others  excepting  the 
would-be  fighter  and  his  two  pals,"  Gwen  reassured. 

"Then  they're  the  ones  I'll  go  after,"  the  dauntless 
journalist  announced  as  he  walked  straight  over  to  the 
outspoken  malcontent. 

"Come  on  here  and  talk  fast,"  he  ordered  as  he  grab- 
bed this  stranger  by  the  shoulder. 

"I'll  bust  you  in  the  fact  if — "  but  the  ruffian  had  no 
chance  to  finish  the  threat,  because  Davis  quickly  landed 
a  punch  which  sent  the  fellow  sprawling  into  a  pool  of  oil. 

With  rare  agility  Davis  turned  on  the  other  two,  but 
they  fled.  Indeed  every  man  there  took  advantage  of  the 
skirmish  to  the  extent  of  fleeing — all  excepting  the  van- 
quished one,  and  he  was  too  dazed. 

Gwen  laughed  scornfully  as  she  stood  by  watching 
the  mad  exodus.  Davis  was  unmistakably  chagrined 
when  he  realized  all  except  one  had  escaped.  He  was 
boiling  over  with  desire  to  fight.  As  a  foiled  beast  often 
does,  he  returned  -to  the  small  part  of  the  prey  he  had 
been  able  to  capture.  He  found  his  victim  struggling  to 
get  out  of  the  slimy  oil  and  onto  his  feet. 

"Get  up,  you  dog,  and  go  to  jail,"  Davis  growled. 

"I  won't,"  the  other  snapped  back. 

"Oh  yes  you  will,  that's  what  I'm  here  for,"  put  in 

102 


HIGH    GIRL 

the  officer  who  promptly  laid  strong  hands  on  the  unruly 
one. 

********** 

Despite  many  powerful  influences  from  high  sources 
the  Associated  Press  accepted  the  sensational  exposure 
supplied  by  Davis,  and  the  next  morning  newspapers 
everywhere  were  filled  with  the  news  of  unscrupulous  at- 
tempts to  purloin  the  secrets  belonging  ostensibly  to 
Gwen  Dale.  Several  arrests  and  criminal  suits  fanned 
the  flame  of  public  indignation,  and  all  the  sympathy  went 
to  the  woman  in  the  case.  Editorially  various  newspapers 
denounced  the  most  prominent  of  the  guilty  men.  Fur- 
thermore an  authorized  statement  from  Miss  Dale  was 
printed  throughout  the  country.  This  statement  set  forth 
the  true  facts  of  how  Given  C.  Hope  had  proposed  a  test 
and  of  how  it  developed  he  knew  from  experience  what 
would  happen. 

The  most  vital  upshot  of  it  all  was  that  the  series 
of  unprecedented  sensations,  as  cleverly  managed  by  the 
faithful  Gwen,  made  a  veritable  hero  out  of  a  genius  in 
oblivion !  This  interest  was  heightened  by  the  definite 
announcement  that  the  daring  aviatrix  was  going  to  fly 
back  to  that  island  for  the  purpose  of  persuading  this 
genius  to  return  to  civilization.  And  no  one  doubted  her 
ability  to  succeed.  Forsooth,  one  high  city  official  of  New 
York  immediately  started  the  ball  to  rolling  towards  mak-- 

103 


HIGH    GIRL 

ing  plans  for  a  great  public  reception  for  the  conqueror 
from  Unknown  Land. 

********** 

Then  came  the  night  the  one  week  later — the  night 
Hope  had  promised  to  again  project  his  long-distance 
illuminated  sign.  Gwen  had  looked  forward  to  this  as  the 
occasion  on  which  she  could  give  even  a  more  thrilling 
proof  of  the  matchless  ability  of  the  man  she.  was  rep- 
resenting to  the  world  as  the  premier  inventor  of  all 
time.  She  prepared  elaborately  to  make  the  utmost  out 
of  the  impression  she  was  sure  would  be  created  by  others 
seeing  the  very  words  she  had  predicted  in  the  heavens 
-above  Gotham.  At  least  twenty  newspaper  men,  includ- 
ing Floyd  Cooper  Davis,  were  among  her  guests  on  the 
roof  of  the  apartment  house  in  which  she  resided,  and 
from  the  inception  all  eyes  were  kept  busy  scanning  the 
sky. 

"What'll  you  do  if  this  thing  fails  to  materialize, 
Miss  Dale,"  ventured  one  of  the  more  skeptical  reporters. 

"I'll  say  something  went  wrong  through  no  fault  of 
Mr.  Hope,"  she  promptly  replied. 

"But,  don't  you  think  it  will  be  difficult  to  convince 
the  very  wise  public,"  he  persisted. 

"I'm  not  going  to  worry  seriously  over  convincing 
any  part  of  the  so-called  very  wise  public,"  she  retaliated. 

"I'd  think  you  would  feel  your  responsibility  in  this 

104 


HIGH    GIRL 

affair  more  than  that,"  he  shot  back  at  her,  smiling  du- 
biously. 

Gwen  was  unmistakably  angered  over  this  mani- 
festation of  skepticism,'  but  instead  of  giving  vent  to  her 
feelings,  she  simply  bit  her  lips.  She  knew  full  well  it 
would  only  be  a  futile  argument  after  all.  Then  Davis 
came  to  the  rescue. 

"I  fail  to  see  any  cause  for  doubt  even  though  there 
may  be  failure  tonight,"  he  intercepted.  "Has  not  even 
our  own  honored  Thomas  A.  Edison  had  many  failures? 
Was  he  any  the  less  great  for  the  set-backs  since  he  was 
so  capable  of  eclipsing  them  with  remarkable  triumphs?" 

"Yes,  but  according  to  all  the  evidence  in  the  case 
this  fellow.  Hope  is  not  a  Thomas  A.  Edison,"  the  skeptic 
pointed  out. 

"Comparisons  are  always  odious,  to  me  and  likewise 
skepticism,"  Davis  retorted. 

This  sort  of  pro-and-con  conversation  was  kept  go- 
ing throughout  the  whole  evening  up  to  midnight.  As 
sleepiness  and  fatigue  became  more  general,  the  skeptic 
gained  converts.  He  seemed  more  admirably  practical 
while  Gwen  Dale  seemed  more  wildly  illusory.  She  had 
erred  to  the  extent  of  permitting  her  enthusiasm  to  fairly 
run  away  with  her.  She  realized  this,  and  it  caused  her 
to  become  most  obviously  anxious  in  her  watchful  wait- 
ing. Previously  she  had  not  taken  into  account  the 

105 


HIGH   GIRL 

possibility  of  even  a  wizard  falling  short  of  his  mark 
occasionally ;  now  she  began  feeling  that  perchance  Hope 
had  not  lost  any  of  his  vulnerability  to  ill-luck. 

At  any  rate  when  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  came 
most  of  her  guests  had  given  up  the  vigil  and  departed 
With  more  or  less  politeness  intermingled  with  pity.  By 
3.30  o'clock  all  had  gone  excepting  Davis  and  her  own 
father  and  mother.  They  resolved  to  stay  as  long  as 
Gwen  decreed  and  she  decreed  patience  until  the  sun  was 
rising. 

"Well,  my  dear  Miss  Dale,  it  is  little  to  worry  over, 
because  he  certainly  did  do  wonders  with  your  seaplane," 
Davis  offered  by  way  of  magnanimous  consolation  as  he 
prepared  to  go. 

"You  are  very  kind,  indeed;  out  of  twenty  or  more 
you  are  the  only  one  to  even  consider  me,"  she  returned 
gratefully. 

"It  isn't  so  much  that  as  it  is  my  agreeing  with  you 
that  just  such  skepticism  as  we  have  seen  demonstrated 
tonight  is  the  very  hoodoo  which  so  many  perfectly  tal- 
ented people  cannot  overcome,"  he  reminded.  "Person- 
ally, I  am  convinced  Mr.  Hope,  like  many  another  rare 
genius,  is  ruthlessly  crushed  under  the  heel  of  an 
oppressive  doubting  Thomas  as  exemplified  by  hu- 
manity's attitude  and  his  few  failures  are  bound  to  be 
used  to  relegate  his  accomplishments  to  the  background 

106 


HIGH    GIRL 

by  the  majority  who  seem  determined  to  minimize  great 
work  when  it  comes  from  someone  they  do  not  know." 

Gwen  was  sincerely  glad  to  hear  these  words  from  a 
real  man  of  achievement.  She  was  all  the  more  ap- 
preciative since  she  realized  most  of  those  reporters  who 
had  lost  their  time  on  her  roof  would  be  likely  to  take 
advantage  of  the  opportunity  to  poke  fun  at  her,  and  to 
make  her  appear  as  a  deluded  sentimentalist. 

The  most  of  them  did  exactly  this.  One  newspaper 
even  used  the  headline,  "Wild  Dream  of  Aviatrix  Fails  to 
Materialize  as  Was  Inevitable."  Another  well-known 
paper  started  its  account  of  what  it  termed  "a  monumen- 
tal watch  party,"  with  the  following  sentence:  "Gwen 
Dale,  the  plucky  aviatrix,  may  be  able  to  stick  dead  still 
high  in  the  air,  but  she  failed  to  make  stick  her  story  of 
the  ability  of  a  queer  man  to  throw  an  illuminated  sign 
some  several  hundred  miles,  and  of  course  it  was  a 
ridiculous  expectation  after  all." 

Needless  to  add  the  girl  was  made  all  the  more  de- 
termined to  vindicate  herself,  and  she  was  all  the  more 
resolved  to  fly  back  to  that  island  to  persuade  the  man 
she  had  eulogized  with  so  much  abandon  to  return  and 
make  the  whole  world  see  his  worth. 


107 


HIGH    GIRL 
CHAPTER  IX. 


WHEREIN  VICTORY  AND  DEFEAT  MINGLE. 


A  WHOLE  week  had  passed  by  all  too  slowly  for 
JL\  Gwen  Dale,  who  was  uncontrollably  eager  to  hop 
off  on  another  aerial  voyage  seaward.  True,  she  had 
been  extremely  busy  making  arrangements  for  her  next 
flight,  and  the  filing  of  charges  against  those  whom  she 
resolutely  prosecuted  for  daring  to  impose  upon  Given  C. 
Hope's  helpfulness  required  many  hours  of  her  time. 
Besides  she  had  rushed  through  the  preliminaries  of  ap- 
plying for  letters  of  patents,  in  the  inventor's  name,  on 
the  attachments  which  made  her  seaplane  the  marvel  of 
the  age.  She  overlooked  no  detail  which  would  be  in  his 
interest,  and  she  was  determined  to  be  the  agency 
through  which  he  could  be  induced  to  return  to  the  haunts 
of  men  to  look  after  his  interests.  Yes,  she  remembered 
Hope's  dire  threats,  but  she  would  over-ride  his  objec- 
tions. She  would  swoop  down  upon  his  lonely  retreat 
while  he  slept  and  she  would  simply  force  him  to  come 
back  and  fight  victoriously. 

Was  there  ever  such  a  girl  before?  Yes,  thousands 
of  them  when  there  was  a  deep  love  involved.  Was  there 
ever  a  more  difficult  task  contemplated  ?  Yes,  thousands 
of  them,  but  too  generally  people  have  lacked  the  un- 

108 


HIGH    GIRL 

swerving  stamina  requisite  to  achieving  the  accomplish- 
ment. Almost  invariably  success  awaits  any  laudable  and 
reasonable  undertaking,  but  man's  inherent  skepticism 
leads  him  to  falter  and  hide  inert  behind  a  screen  of  con- 
servatism such  as  inspires  following  the  line  of  least  re- 
sistance, a  policy  oh  so  often  a  sheer,  unvarnished  fallacy. 
Perhaps  Gwen  Dale  would  not  be  classified  among  the 
"regular  human  beings"  by  the  average  mind,  because  a 
^erson  who  will  risk  all  for  the  thing  he  or  she  believes 
in  is  usually  regarded  as  either  a  crank  upon  the  subject 
involved  or  else  there  is  a  universal  conviction  of  the 
presence  of  sorry  insanity.  Curiously  enough,  however, 
if  it  is  a  woman  who  stands  out  as  the  apostle  extraordi- 
nary in  any  good  cause,  there  is  more  sympathy  than 
actual  co-operation  extended  to  her.  A  man — well,  a  man 
should  be  able  to  take  care  of  himself  and  accomplish 
whatever  he  is  capable  of  without  the  slightest  assistance, 
either  spiritual  or  material,  according  to  the  average 
thoughtless  version.  Still,  no  man  was  ever  known  to 
make  noteworthy  progress  without  the  aid  of  a  helping 
hand !  A  well-organized  and  consistently  permanent  sys- 
tem of  exploring  the  untra versed  regions  of  obscurity  for 
new  talent  would  enrich  the  glories  of  nations  so  pro- 
digiously that  a  really  idealistic  age  with  propensities  of 
a  millennium  could  be  counted  as  a  possibility  of  the 
near  future. 

109 


HIGH    GIRL 

A  firm  belief  in  the  urgent  advisability  of  not  being 
supinely  a  tacit  party  to  the  colossal  blunder  of  allowing 
the  old  adage :  "To  err  is  human,"  stand  as  an  unassail- 
able landmark  of  the  mortal  weaknesses,  actuated  Gwen 
Dale  in  her  supreme  efforts  to  make  a  most  impressive 
example  of  the  case  of  Given  C.  Hope.  After  all  her  love 
for  the  man  was  secondary,  although  none  the  less  strong 
for  its  subjugation  by  a  growing  altruism. 

And  now  at  last  came  the  hour  for  another  ad- 
venture through  peril-laden  space.  This  time  the  daring 
aviatrix  had  two  companions,  Floyd  Cooper  Davis  and  a 
new  mechanician,  John  West.  Both  were  exceedingly 
formidable  men  for  such  a  hazardous  enterprise.  Davis 
was  a  powerful  athlete  and  a  professional  swimmer. 
West  was  one  of  the  most  efficient  all-around  mechanics 
in  the  aerial  game.  He  was  all  the  more  valuable  for  his 
long  experience  as  a  navigator. 

A  great  crowd  had  assembled  to  witness  the  thrilling 
departure.  No  event  in  the  eventful  battle  to  conquer  the 
air  could  appeal  more  to  the  imagination.  Sportsmen 
were  even  laying  large  bets  on  the  outcome.  Excitement 
ran  at  high  tide  and  when  Gwen  finally  appeared  on  the 
scene  and  walked  briskly  to  her  plane,  a  deafening  ova- 
tion was  accorded  her.  She  acknowledged  the  honor 
gracefully.  Davis  and  West  followed  close  behind  her, 
and  they  were  received  with  enthusiasm,  too. 

110 


HIGH    GIRL 

The  trio  climbed  into  their  respective  posts  of  duty 
quickly,  and  just  five  tense  minutes  were  left  for  the 
crowd.  Gwen  had  so  calculated  that  she  regarded  it  as 
indispensable  to  leave  at  precisely  4.30  P.  M.  She  had 
astutely  planned  to  reach  the  island  at  not  later  than  three 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  when  she  figured  Hope  would  be 
sleeping  soundly  and  entirely  off-guard.  Hence  she  would 
tolerate  no  delays  and  she  flew  away  right  on  schedule 
time.  The  start  was  made  beautifully  amid  the  roaring 
cheers  of  the  thousands  and  until  darkness  had  settled 
over  the  broad  expanse  of  the  Atlantic  waters,  it  seemed 
to  all  on  board  more  of  a  joy  ride  than  a  serious  business. 

At  about  nine  o'clock  the  weather,  that  ever-fickle 
foe  to  man  in  all  his  ambitions,  began  playing  pranks 
which  were  disconcerting.  A  rather  high  wind  came  up 
and  'as  fate  would  have  it,  of  course,  it  settled  in  no  direc- 
tion, being  more  of  a  twister  than  anything  else.  Soon 
this  wind  drove  great  dense  clouds  all  around,  pbscuring 
the  stars  and  at  the  same  time  the  sea  became  danger- 
ously choppy. 

Up  to  this  time  Gwen  and  Davis  had  chatted  gaily 
while  West  kept  busy  climbing  daringly  all  over  the  ma- 
chine watching  every  part. 

"Now,  Mr.  Davis,  I  fear  you  will  get  plenty  of  the 
fighting  you  seem  to  love,"  the  girl  announced  cheerfully 
as  she  settled  down  to  efforts  to  battle  against  the  rising 

111 


HIGH    GIRL 

fury  of  the  elements. 

"I'd  enjoy  it  all  immensely  if  it  wasn't  for  the  con- 
cern I  feel  for  you,"  he  replied.  "However,  pay  no 
further  attention  to  me  until  we  get  out  of  this  storm. 
You  have  enough  else  to  think  about  now." 

For  a  full  hour  not  another  word  was  uttered  on  that 
soaring  seabird.  Then  suddenly  a  flood  of  dazzling  light 
enveloped  the  outfit. 

"What's  that  ?"  Davis  yelled  in  excitement. 

"A  searchlight,"  she  answered.  "But  surely  not  his 
so  soon." 

West  promptly  got  busy  with  his  instruments.  He 
tried  to  sight  the  sea  in  vain.  The  light  vanished  as  ab- 
ruptly as  it  came  and  there  was  pitch  darkness. 

"I'd  advise  you  to  drop  a  couple  thousand  feet  so 
we  can  get  our  bearings,"  West  shouted  to  Gwen. 

She  immediately  turned  the  nose  of  her  machine 
downward  and  descended  the  two  thousand  feet. 

"That's  enough — hold  this  altitude  for  a  while," 
West  yelled. 

However,  a  ten-minute  search  failed  to  reveal  the 
source  of  the  brief  shaft  of  light. 

Gwen  was  perplexed.  She  figured  she  was  at  least 
five  hundred  miles  away  from  Hope's  island.  It  would 
not  be  possible  for  even  him  to  throw  such  a  light  so  far. 

"It  must  be  a  ship,"   she    shouted  to  West   after  a 

112 


HIGH    GIRL 

while. 

"Nope,  I  don't  think  we're  within  one  hundred  miles 
of  any  ship  right  now,"  he  answered. 

"Then  what  was  it?"  she  demanded. 

"You've  got  me,  Miss — it  didn't  seem  to  come  from 
below  anyway,"  was  all  the  satisfaction  the  mechanician 
could  give  the  pilot. 

"I'd  say  it's  strange,"  Davis  commented  a  bit  anx- 
iously. 

"Exceedingly  so,"  she  agreed.  "I  even  imagine  now 
that  I  could  see  ahead  farther  for  the  second  we  were  in 
that  light." 

Davis  shuffled  his  feet  nervously  and  there  was  the 
shaft  of  light  again ! 

In  amazement  he  drew  his  feet  in  and  leaned  for- 
ward in  the  hopes  of  determining  whence  the  truly  terrific 
glare.  Within  the  twinkling  of  that  act  the  light  disap- 
peared again. 

"Well,  I'll  be  hanged,"  he  ejaculated  in  amazement. 

"Isn't  it  the  limit!"  she  put  in. 

Both  resigned  to  a  period  of  watchful  waiting  and 
kept  silent.  Despite  the  grim  necessity  for  concentration 
of  all  her  thoughts  on  piloting  the  plane,  Gwen  fell  to 
thinking  about  Hope's  declaration  that  both  would  likely 
perish  if  she  attempted  to  fly  back  to  him.  Then  it  struck 
her  as  more  than  passing  strange  she  should  think  of  that 

113 


HIGH    GIRL 

just  at  that  moment.  She  pondered  deeply.  The  thought 
of  Hope's  inventive  skill  flashed  through  her  mind  and 
she  suddenly  came  to  regard  it  as  uncanny  wizardry.  Did 
he  have  anything  to  do  with  those  two  floods  of  light? 

She  meditated  several  minutes  longer  and  then 
spoke : 

"Mr.  Davis." 

"Yes,"  he  responded  with  avidity. 

"Look  around  and  see  if  you  can  find  any  buttons 
or  switches  you  hadn't  noticed  before,"  she  requested. 

Without  making  any  response  and  seemingly  under- 
standing the  girl's  idea,  Davis  proceeded  to  make  a  care- 
ful examination  of  the  whole  interior  of  the  fuselage. 
However,  he  could  not  discover  any  evidence  of  an  at- 
tachment he  was  not  familiar  with,  and  he  was  just  about 
to  say  so  when  for  the  third  time  a  shaft  of  dazzling  illu- 
mination flashed  all  around  them  for  only  an  instant. 

"It's  coming  from  our  own  machine,"  West  exclaim 
ed  while  Gwen  still  blinked  her  eyes  in  consternation. 

"I  wouldn't  be  surprised,"  she  declared  as  she  be- 
came convinced  that  Hope  had  failed  to  apprise  her  of  all 
the  improvements  he  had  installed.  "See  if  you  can  find 
out  what  controls  it." 

West  spent  many  minutes  in  going  over  all  the  plane 
at  great  risk,  but  he  had  to  ultimately  give  up  in  despair 

"I  guess  I'm  wrong,"  he  announced. 

114 


HIGH    GIRL 

No  sooner  had  he  closed  his  lips  than  the  fourth  flash 
of  light  shot  through  the  groaning  winds.  This  time  the 
rays  did  not  linger  for  hardly  more  than  a  second,  and  it 
left  Gwen  Dale's  nerves  considerably  unsteady.  The 
stormy  atmospheric  conditions  were  enough  to  worry  her. 
but  this  mysterious  light  was  positively  alarming.  Indeed 
it  impressed  all  three  occupants  of  this  speeding  traveler 
of  the  night  as  ominous.  Gwen  felt  a  peculiar  sense  of 
distrust.  She  got  to  fretting  about  the  way  her  engine 
was  working,  although  West  was  entirely  satisfied  with 
it.  Then  she  feared  being  far  off  her  course,  although 
West  was  positive  they  were  going  straight  for  the  north- 
ern Irish  coast. 

Up  until  one  o'clock  in  the  morning  the  girl  suffered 
-painfully  from  her  nerves.  At  that  hour  they  suddenly 
flew  into  the  most  wonderful  weather.  The  sky  ^  is 
ablaze  with  stars  and  the  visibility  was  remarkable.  They 
could  see  that  the  oce'an  below  was  so  calm  that  it  re- 
sembled a  smooth  sheet  of  glass. 

"Oh  what  a  relief,"  Gwen  remarked  as  she  sighed. 

"You  managed  things  great  all  through  that  storm 
belt,"  Davis  complimented. 

"Thank  you.  Even  at  that  the  storm  wasn't  so  an- 
noying as  those  flashes  of  light.  I  wonder  why  they  dis- 
continued." 

"It  may  have  been  some  kind  of  a  phenomena,"  he 

115 


HIGH    GIRL 

suggested. 

"Perhaps." 

An  hour  later  Gwen  called  West. 

"We  ought  to  be  in  sight  of  that  island  any  minute 
now,"  she  yelled. 

West  promptly  turned  all  of  his  attention  to  trying 
to  sight  land.  Three  hours  later  he  had  still  failed  to  find 
any  indication  of  the  close  proximity  of  land.  Gwen  Dale 
was  by  now  very  much  distressed.  Things  had  been  per- 
sistent in  going  wrong.  But  nevertheless  she  retained  a 
certain  amount  of  her  determination. 

"Well,  I'll  keep  flying  around  in  a  circle  because 
the  island  must  lay  within  a  hundred  square  miles  here- 
abouts," she  announced. 

"If  we  waste  more  than  another  hour's  supply  of 
gas,  we're  liable  to  run  out  before  we  reach  any  Euro- 
pean port,"  West  informed. 

Gwen  took  a  chance  and  circled  several  times,  but  it 
was  a  futile  perseverance.  No  land  was  sighted. 

"We'll  have  to  make  for  port  now,  Miss,"  West 
urged. 

"Oh,  but  I  can't  give  up,"  she  remonstrated. 

"I  think  it  would  be  better  to  achieve  the  trans- 
Atlantic  flight  first  and  come  back  to  search  for  the  island 
in  the  daylight,"  Davis  suggested. 

"He's  right,  ma'm,  he's  right,"  West  put  in  earnestly. 

116 


HIGH    GIRL 

"Very  well  then,"  Gwen  replied  wearily.  "Here  goes 
for  a  victory  to  off-set  this  defeat." 

********** 

After  thirty-six  hours  and  forty  minutes  of  con- 
tinuous flying,  Gwen  Dale  piloted  her  seaplane  safely  into 
Plymouth,  England,  at  the  break  of  day.  Despite  ihe 
early  hour  a  large  crowd  had  assembled  to  greet  her.  Six 
hours  prior  to  this  a  liner  had  sighted  the  big  ship  of  the 
air  making  good  time  with  ease,  and  had  sent  a  wireless 
to  Plymouth  announcing  the  fact.  The  news  spread  like 
wild-fire,  the  keenest  of  interest  being  aroused,  because 
this  was  the  first  woman  to  attempt  a  transatlantic  non- 
stop flight.  Now  in  her  moment  of  triumph,  a  resounding 
din  filled  the  air.  Whistles  and  bells  combined  to  let  the 
whole  vicinity  know  something  extraordinary  had  hap- 
pened. 

From  the  moment  she  set  foot  on  British  soil,  Gwen 
was  feted  and  idolized  as  the  pluckiest  girl  of  the  age. 
The  reception  was  enough  to  gratify  the  most  blase  per- 
son, and,  outwardly  she  was  very  pleased,  but  inwardly 
she  was  sad  and  gloomy. 

"This  isn't  what  I  want,"  she  said  in  an  undertone 
to  Davis  during  a  slight  lull  in  the  celebration.  "I  want 
to  start  back  tomorrow  if  West  can  get  the  machine  in 
shape." 

"Pray  forget  that  now,"  Davis  urged.    "First  of  all, 

117 


HIGH    GIRL 

you  must  have  complete  rest.  Let  us  get  away  from  this 
tumult  as  soon  as  possible." 

By  the  time  they  did  get  to  a  hotel  two  hours  had 
elapsed  and  Gwen's  fatigue  was  so  noticeable  as  to  cause 
Davis  much  concern.  While  she  was  being  escorted  to 
her  rooms,  he,  without  consulting  her,  summoned  a 
physician.  Then  he  retired  to  the  rooms  assigned  to  West 
and  him.  Both  men  were  sound  asleep  within  a  very 
short  space  of  time. 

Once  in  her  rooms  and  alone,  Gwen  felt  as  if  she 
wanted  to  bolt  right  out  of  them  again.  She  had  never 
been  so  lonesome  before  in  her  life.  She  could  not  bear 
the  thought  of  going  to  bed.  It  seemed  to  her  that  she 
should  be  losing  no  minutes — Given  C.  Hope  must  be 
rescued  now  or  never.  In  her  estimation  her  great  vic- 
tory in  crossing  the  Atlantic  by  air  was  overshadowed 
by  her  failure  to  find  that  island.  Inevitably  her  thoughts 
reverted  to  those  queer  fleeting  shafts  of  light  which  had 
nearly  deprived  her  of  her  nerve.  Could  she  have  pos- 
sibly been  flying  in  circles  right  around  Hope's  observa- 
tory ?  Did  her  machine  travel  faster  than  the  meter  indi- 
cated? "There  was  something  wrong  in  the  calculations  " 
she  muttered. 

While  she  was  still  trying  to  force  her  tired  brain  to 
solve  these  and  other  baffling  problems,  she  was  surprised 
to  hear  a  firm  rap  on  her  door. 

118 


HIGH    GIRL 

"Who's  there  ?"  she  yelled. 

"Doctor  Hope,"  promptly  replied  a  masculine  voice. 

"Doctor  Hope,"  she  repeated  as  she  dashed  hurriedly 
to  the  door,  which  she  opened  with  almost  enough  force 
to  tear  it  off  of  its  hinges.  Then  when  she  saw  an  elderly, 
white-haired  gentleman,  she  calmed  down  and  apologeti- 
cally said :  "Oh !  I  thought  it  was  Given  C.  Hope." 

"No,  I  am  Doctor  Lucian  J.  Hope,"  the  man  replied 
politely  bowing.  "1  was  asked  to  prescribe  for  you." 

"Prescribe  for  me!    For  what?" 

"For  one  thing — your  nerves — as  I  can  see  already," 
the  doctor  answered. 

"Do  my  nerves  seem  bad  ?"  the  girl  asked. 

"How  could  you  expect  them  to  be  otherwise,  my 
dear,  after  using  them  so  continuously  under  such  nerve- 
racking  conditions?"  he  asked  affably  as  he  walked  to  a 
center  table  and  deposited  his  medicine  case  there. 

The  doctor  had  no  trouble  in  persuading  Gwen  to 
take  some  medicine.  He  ordered  immediate  rest  and  pre- 
pared some  powders  for  her  to  swallow  when  she 
awakened.  He  felt  her  pulse  and  took  her  tempera  t-.  lie. 
He  listened  to  her  heart  and  examined  the  pupils  of  her 
eyes. 

"You're  in  mighty  fine  physical  condition  all  thia.;s 
considered,"  he  then  told  her  as  he  prepared  to  go.  "No\y 
I  beg  of  you  to  take  a  hot  bath  and  jump  right  into  bed. 

119 


HIGH    GIRL 

My  congratulations  and  good-day." 

So  saying  he  crossed  to  the  door.  There  he  paused 
and  took  a  quick  glance  at  the  girl. 

"When  did  you  last  see  Given  C.  ?"  he  asked  very 
gravely. 

"What!"  Gwen  almost  screamed. 

"Never  mind  answering  the  question  and  pardon 
me,"  he  hastened  to  say.  "Good  morning." 

And  before  Gwen  could  recover  from  her  surpris' 
over  the  familiarity  with  which  the  doctor  inquired  after 
her  genius  in  oblivion,  he  was  gone. 

"But  I'll  follow  him  right  to  his  -office  and  demand  an 
explanation,"  she  excitedly  told  herself  as  she  began  pre- 
paring herself  to  go  out. 

She  had  just  put  on  her  hat  when  there  was  a  gentle 
rapping  at  her  door.  She  lost  no  time  in  opening  it  and 
was  confronted  by  a  sweet- faced,  buxom  nurse. 

"I'll  stay  with  you  and  watch  over  you  while  you 
sleep,"  the  nurse  said  smilingly. 

"But  I'm  not  going  to  sleep;  I'm  going  out,"  pro- 
tested the  girl. 

"Oh  no,  my  dear,"  the  nurse  objected,  but  it  re- 
quired a  great  deal  more  persuasion  to  overcome  Gwen's 
whim.  Fortunately  the  nurse  knew  her  business  and  she 
won  out.  But  she  had  no  doubts  as  to  the  likelihood  of 
this  American  beauty  starting  on  her  return  flight  on  the 

120 


HIGH    GIRL 

morrow. 

"Cable  my  father  I'll  be  back  home  day  after  to- 
morrow," were  the  last  words  the  girl  said  before  she  re- 
laxed into  a  quiet,  restful  sleep. 


121 


HIGH    GIRL 
CHAPTER  X. 


THE  SUPREME  SPECTACLE  OF  A  LIFETIME. 


It  was  midnight  when  Gwen  awakened  to  find  the 
nurse  sitting  nearby  smiling  calmly. 

"Oh,  you  rested  wonderfully,"  the  faithful  guardian 
observed  when  she  saw  her  patient's  eyes  wide  open. 

"And  I  feel  great,"  the  girl  declared  as  she  jumped 
out  of  bed  with  agility.  "What  time  is  it?" 

"Just  midnight." 

"Good !  Don't  lose  a  minute.  See  if  Mr.  Davis  and 
Mr.  West  have  awakened  yet." 

"They  left  the  hotel  at  nine  o'clock,"  the  nurse 
informed. 

"They  did !    Where  did  they  go  ?" 

The  nurse  arose  and  walked  to  a  dressing-table 
nearby,  picking  up  a  letter.  "Mr.  Davis  left  this,"  she 
said.  "I  presume  it  will  explain." 

Gwen  tore  the  envelope  open  almost  frantically,  and 
then  she  read  the  following  note  penned  in  neat  hand- 
writing : 

My  Dear  Heroic  Miss  Dale : 

We  knew  you  would  demand  quick 
action,  so  we  are  leaving  at  9  P.  M.,  after 
a  good  rest,  to  do  all  in  our  power  to  make 


HIGH    GIRL 

possible  an  immediate  departure  by  air  for 
America.  You  can  reach  us  at  your  hangar 
whenever  it  suits  your  convenience.  And, 
dear  girl,  pray  don't  worry — West  and  I 
are  agreed  that  we  must  find  that  fright- 
fully elusive  island  on  the  return  trip.  I 
have  given  the  world  the  whole  story  of 
your  magnificent  triumph  through  the  As- 
sociated Press,  and,  I  am,  with  great 
admiration, 

Yours  sincerely, 

FLOYD  COOPER  DAVIS. 

"Gee,  he's  a  good  sport,"  Gwen  told  herself  as  she 
recalled  the  many  admirable  qualities  this  dashing  gentle- 
man of  the  press  had  shown.  "He's  so  unlike  the  average 
fellow  who  wants  to  marry  a  girl  the  day  after  he 
meets  her." 

There  was  no  doubting  Gwen's  intentions  during  the 
next  twenty  minutes — she  was  losing  no  time  in  making 
preparations  to  join  her  companions  at  the  hangar,  and, 
the  nurse  joined  whole-heartedly  in  her  efforts  acting  as 
a  most  respectful  maid.  When  finally  the  girl  was  ready 
for  the  street  and  displayed  a  concern  as  to  what  the 
nurse  would  do  in  the  meantime,  the  latter  promptly 
explained  the  situation : 

123 


HIGH    GIRL 

"I  was  instructed  to  stay  here  until  further  orders 
from  Doctor  Hope." 

"Doctor  Hope!"  Gwen  exclaimed.  "You  know  I 
can't  get  over  that  doctor  part  of  it,  but — er — when  will 
I  get  to  see  the  doctor  again  ?" 

"The  first  thing  tomorrow  morning." 

"Good !  I've  some  questions  I  want  to  ask  him. 
Good-night.  I'm  off  to  the  trusty,  old  seabird." 

With  these  thoroughly  light-hearted  words,  the  girl 
walked  briskly  out  of  the  room,  and  an  hour  later  she 
was  joining  her  companions  of  her  great  transatlantic 
flight  at  the  hangar,  thanks  to  a  regular  Ford  taxicab 
which  happened  to  be  available  at  the  right  moment. 

"Why  didn't  you  wait  until  daylight?"  West  asked 
before  Davis  had  a  chance  to  say  a  word. 

"Say,  man,  we're  in  a  hurry,"  she  ejaculated  jovially. 

"Certainly,  and  I  knew  you'd  be  here  before  we 
were  half  finished,"  Davis  chimed  in  with  a  pride  which 
was  unmistakably  directed  towards  the  girl. 

"Well,  what's  the  condition  of  the  old  boat?"  she 
asked. 

"Unbelievably  perfect,"  Davis  announced. 

"Everything  is  ship-shape  excepting  that  light  busi- 
ness— I  can't  figure  that  out  in  spite  of  being  convinced 
it  all  came  from  our  machine,"  West  put  in.  The  very 
next  instant  he  crawled  underneath  the  plane  and  began  a 

124 


HIGH    GIRL 

careful  investigation  with  the  aid  of  his  pocket  search- 
light. 

"That's  what  I'd  call  some  mystery,  but  don't  let  it 
bother  you  too  seriously,  because  a  few  rays  of  light 
aren't  going  to  hold  us  back,"  she  replied  as  her  spirit* 
mounted  ever  higher. 

Davis  was  not  slow  in  being  infected  with  the  Sam"" 
spirit.  His  memory  of  the  thrills  of  the  hours  just  pass- 
ed so  miraculously  served  to  buoy  him  up  noticeably. 

"If  I  may  be  pardoned  for  resorting  to  a  little  of  the 
good  American  slang,  I'll  say  this  is  the  life,"  he  re- 
marked as  he  continued  to  oil  the  mechanism  adjoining 
the  propeller. 

"You  like  this  sort  of  thing,  don't  you?"  she  asked 
as  she  fixed  a  studious  gaze  upon  Davis. 

"I  should  say  I  do — for  your  sake — but,  as  for  my- 
self, well,  I'm  satisfied  with  most  anything  decent,"  he 
replied  without  looking  up  from  his  work. 

"And  just  what  would  you  like  to  see  happen  on 
this  return  trip?"  she  propounded' as  if  bent  on  drawing 
the  man  out. 

"I'd  like  first  of  all  to  locate  that  island  you've  been 
telling  us  so  much  about,  then  I'd  like  to  load  the  genius 
on  board  and  hit  'er  back  to  New  York  without  too  much 
delay,"  he  confessed  with  the  utmost  candor. 

"You  are  generous,"  she  complimented.     "Most  of 

125 


HIGH    GIRL 

the  men  I've  met  wouldn't  give  a  rap  whether  or  not  we 
ever  found  the  other  man.  In  fact,  the  most  of  the 
rivals  would  do  everything  half-way  legitimate  to  put  the 
absent  one  to  a  disadvantage." 

"That  brings  up  a  very  important  subject,  Miss 
Dale,"  Davis  said  as  he  held  his  oil-can  aloft. 

"What  is  the  subject?" 

"The  subject  has  to  do  with  giving  every  man  a 
fair  chance  and  leaving  the  ultimate  decision  to  be  based 
on  his  own  merits,"  he  replied.  "Anyone  with  far  below 
the  average  intelligence  could  see  that  your  interest  in 
Mr.  Hope  is  more  than  a  mere  whim  in  favor  of  the 
square  deal  minus  any  affections.  You  would  love  him 
if  you  had  the  chance " 

"Oh,  Mr.  Davis,"  she  appealed. 

"Forgive  me  if  I've  been  too  frank,  but — I'm  going 
to  do  all  in  my  power  to  help  you  get  that  chance,"  he 
hastened  to  add. 

"I — I — really  don't  know  what  to  say  to  you,  ex- 
cepting— I  do  think  you  are  a  noble  man  with  a  remark- 
able understanding  of  feminine  fancies,"  she  stammered, 
much  embarrassed. 

"We  need  to  dwell  no  longer  on  the  subject  then,  and 
meanwhile  I'll  just  give  this  wonderful  fly-boy  more  oil 
than  could  possibly  be  needed."  Whereupon  he  eloquent- 
ly illustrated  his  determination  by  resuming  his  activities 

126 


HIGH    GIRL 

with  the  oil-can  a  la  very  fast. 

Gwen  watched  her  good  new-found  friend  with  the 
keenest  interest.  It  would  be  foolish  to  even  intimate 
that  she  did  not  realize  what  was  behind  the  veneer  of 
restraint  which  he  managed  to  keep  around  him  con- 
stantly. She  just  knew  this  man  would  turn  lover  on  a 
moment's  notice  of  encouragement,  but  she  also  knew  he 
was  primarily  gallant  to  the  extreme,  which  safeguarded 
her  against  any  premature  advances  from  him. 

"Well,  anyway,  I  like  you  a  lot,"  she  admitted  after 
a  while. 

"Which  is  a  lot  more  than  I  expected." 

"Why?"   And  Gwen's  curiosity  was  aroused. 

"Because  I'm  sort  of  a  freak." 

"In  what  way?" 

"I  fight  better  than  I  love."  (Most  certainly  Davis 
kept  right  on  squirting  the  oil  in  every  part  of  the  me- 
chanism he  could  see.) 

"You  know  I  have  already  been  wondering  why  it  is 
you're  not  the  champion  pugilist  of  the  world  today," 
she  remarked  dryly. 

"I  can  tell  you." 

"Do." 

"Because  I  do  not  fight  so  much  better  than  I  love 
after  all." 

Gwen  never  respected  the  admonition:   "Mum's  the 

127 


HIGH    GIRL 

word"  so  much  in  her  life  before.  She  was  surely  going 
in  a  direction  at  a  speed  she  could  not  maintain.  The 
island  must  be  found !  Fidelity  to  a  deep  feeling  of 
exhilarating  memory  would  prevail.  There  was  no  man 
who  could  equal  Given  C.  Hope. 

"Guess  I'm  interfering  with  your  work,"  she  apolo- 
gized after  a  moment. 

"Guess  you  can  give  orders  to  work  faster  if  you 
choose,"  he  quickly  retaliated. 

"All  right — speed  'em  up,  boy !"  she  urged  by  way 
of  not  succumbing  to  his  amicably  clever  defi. 

Forthwith  Davis  moved  about  with  lightning  speed 
ostensibly  in  fun,  but  he  was  really  accomplishing  the 
things  West  had  mapped  out  as  essential  before  the  queen 
had  arrived  on  the  scene.  Wisely  Gwen  diverted  her 
attention  to  West,  and  she  seemed  to  have  an  unlimited 
supply  of  suggestions  for  him. 

The  sun  had  come  up  before  the  men  finished  their 
work  on  the  machine.  They  were  obviously  hungry  and 
tired.  The  girl  seemed  more  refreshed  than  ever,  but 
she  had  a  heart. 

"If  it's  all  you  can  do  until  the  tuning-up  process, 
let's  go  eat  a  big  breakfast,"  she  invited  smilingly. 

"Hurrah!  A  real  English  breakfast  on  me!"  Davis 
fairly  shouted  in  the  best  of  humor. 

"No,  I'll  buy,"  she  insisted. 

128 


HIGH    GIRL 

"With  two  regular  sea-going,  air-going  fellows  like 
us  on  the  job?  Never!"  And  the  girl  knew  Davis  was 
going  to  pay  the  bill.  His  determined  smile  revealed  the 
fact. 

West  said  little  and  -acted  more.  He  was  all  washed 
and  ready  for  the  fattest  meal  in  the  land  before  Davis 
even  completed  exchanging  conversation  with  Gwen. 
Just  the  same  the  trio  got  out  of  the  hangar  and  into  a 
nifty  rustic  dining-room  in  less  than  an  hour  and  never 
was  the  British  style  of  breakfasting  emulated  so  adeptly 
before.  All  three  had  ravenous  appeites  and  it  was  a 
regular  war-time  bill  with  all  the  tax  "trimmings  the  wait- 
ress had  ready  when  they  took  their  final  sips  of  tea. 

"Now -since  we  feel  so  much  better  for  our  mast'cat- 
ing  activities,  I  would  urge  that  you  gentlemen  return  to 
the  hangar  and  get  the  machine  ready  for  flight  by  n 
o'clock  tonight,"  Gwen  instructed.  "I'll  go  back  and  fill 
the  ears  of  the  British  journalists  with  interviews  so 
much  galore  that  it  will  make  the  best  American  movie 
actress  blush  with  shame  in  comparison.  You  can  sleep 
from  eleven  until  six  the  next  morning  and  then  we're 
off." 

"But,  may  I  ask,  Miss,  how  do  you  figure  to  reach 
the  latitude  you  say  the  island  lays  in  at  night  by  starting 
at  that  hour?"  West  queried. 

"I've  got  a  hunch — "  she  began. 

129 


HIGH    GIRL 

"Enough!"  exclaimed  Davis.  "There's  nothing  so 
reliable  as  a  hunch  as  nonsensical  as  it  usually  seems. 
"We'll  bank  on  your  hunch,  Miss."  And  he  took  a  sly 
glance  at  West,  who  fidgeted  just  a  trifle. 

"Orders  are  orders,"  West- acquiesced  as  he  started 
to  go. 

When  six  o'clock  of  that  next  morning  dawned,  two 
brave  men  #nd  a  braver  girl  stood  ready  to  climb  into  an 
fefficiently  tuned-up  hydro-aeroplane  ready  and  anxious 
to  complete  a  record-smashing  expedition.  The  girl  had 
more  than  kept  her  word  in  the  matter  of  filling  the  ears 
of  the  newspaper  men  and  fully  ten  thousand  people  were 
assembled  to  witness  the  hop-off. 

"You  can  see  for  yourself  that  there  are  as  many 
rubber-necks  in  Great  Britain  as  there  are  in  Great 
United  States,"  Gwen  observed  as  she  nodded  at  the  great 
crowd. 

"Yes,  curiosity  discriminates  between  no  climes  or 
no  peoples,"  Davis  replied.  "Still,  I  admit  I'd  be  out  to 
see  you  start  anywhere  myself."  He  spared  himself  from 
suffering  to  see  the  full  effect  of  his  words  by  laughing 
heartily  in  a  way  which  could  not  be  classified!  Davis 
was  clever,  despite  his  eagerness  along  certain  lines. 

"Avast!-  Who  comes  there?"  she  thereupon  ex- 
claimed as  she  espied  a  dignified  procession  advancing  to- 

130 


HIGH    GIRL 

wards  them. 

"It  looks  like  something  royal,"  he  commented  as 
he  fixed  his  gaze  upon  the  marching  straight  line. 

A  moment  later  the  aviatrix  was  being  elegantly 
addressed  by  an  Englishman  of  distinguished  bearing. 
She  heard  him  say  something  about  the  British  govern- 
ment being  proud  of  her  and  ere  she  got  the  full  import 
of  the  proceeding  a  gold  medal  aflame  with  dazzling  dia- 
monds was  pinned  on  her  leather  coat.  She  was  just  in 
the  midst  of  thanking  the  donors  profusely  when  she 
discovered  Doctor  Hope  standing  .in  the  rear. 

"Oh,  doctor,  come  here,"  she  called  impulsively. 

"Yes,  ma'm."  And  the  next  instant  Doctor  Hope 
stood  before  the  aviatrix  giving  respectful  attention. 

"Say,  do  you  know  Given  C.  Hope  ?"  she  asked  look- 
ing the  kind-faced  physician  squarely  in  the  eye. 

"No,"  he  denied  without  hesitation. 

"Then  why  did  you  ask  me  about  him  as  if  you 
knew  him?" 

"I  just  wanted  to  see  if  he  was  one  of  the  causes  of 
your  nervous  ailment." 

"And  did  you  so  decide?" 

"I  sent  the  nurse  right  up." 

"Gee,"  Gwen  gasped.  "And  why  the  nurse  on  that 
account  ?" 

"Love  gone  wrong  makes  people  reckless,  my  dear 

131 


HIGH    GIRL 

girl — that's  all,"  the  doctor  replied. 

The  girl  thought  deeply  for  a  moment  and  then  ex- 
tended her  hand,  saying:  "You're  an  exceptional  doc- 
tor— I  actually  believe  you  could  cure  love  sickness." 

"If  I  may  be  pardoned  for  being  bold,  I  would  urge 
that  you  be  totally  immune  from  all  such  maladies  unt.;l 
you  are  safely  on  American  soil  again,"  he  advised.  "It 
is  not  conducive  to  good  health  to  be  too  much  in  love  and 
high  in  the  air  at  the  same  time." 

Davis  simply  could  not  refrain  from  chuckling  aloud. 
Gwen  shot  a  reproachful  glance  at  him  for  it,  but  she  too 
was  amused.  "Who  said  the  Britisher  doesn't  see  the 
humorous  side  of  a  serious  question  once  in  a  while?" 
she  asked  of  no  one  in  particular. 

"Love  is  too  slushy  a  proposition  for  an  occasion  like 
this  anyway,"  joined  in  West,  who  did  not  claim  to  be 
anyone  in  particular. 

The  words  of  these  last  few  minutes  on  British  ter- 
ritory seemed  extremely  trivial,  but,  just  the  same,  they 
served  a  good  purpose,  for  they  removed  the  burden  of 
worrying  over  the  forthcoming  nervous  strains  and  af- 
forded all  three  of  the  courageous  crew  plenty  of  cause 
for  feeling  exuberant. 

When  came  time  for  the  rounds  of  farewells  and 
God-speeds,  Gwen  was  positively  jolly.  Davis  shared  in 
this  attitude,  for  as  he  assisted  the  fair  pilot  to  her  post, 

132 


HIGH    GIRL 

he  blandly  remarked: 

"You  didn't  seem  much  excited  over  the  high  hon- 
ors they  paid  you." 

"Well,  I'll  tell  you,"  she  promptly  responded,  "I'm 
not  looking  for  laurels ;  I'm  looking  for  a  certain  island." 

Both  laughed  heartily  and  they  were  still  giving  vent 
to  their  mirth  when  West  set  the  propeller  into  pow- 
erful motion  and  the  mighty  seaplane  moved  rapidly 
away  from  the  spot  amid  the  cheers  of  the  multitudes. 

All  day  long  luck  stayed  with  the  venturesome  crew. 
A  night  of  ideal  weather  conditions  followed.  For  the 
two  hours  prior  to  midnight  West  piloted  the  machine 
while  Gwen  took  a  nap.  Davis  never  closed  his  eyes  once. 
He  couldn't.  He  was  completely  charmed  between  his 
natural  love  of  excitement  and  his  thoughts  of  the  re- 
markable girl  whom  he  knew  could  never  forget  him  for 
those  hours  of  unceasing  thrill. 

"I  wonder  who's  soused  on  Broadway  tonight!" 
West  ventured  by  way  of  opening  conversation  with 
Davis  while  the  chief  little  commander  slept. 

"Not  me  anyway,"  replied  Davis.  "However,  I'm 
intoxicated  enough  with  anticipation  of  what's  going  to 
happen  before  this  journey  is  ended." 

"Nothing  unusual  will  happen,"  West  predicted. 
"This  machine  is  bang-up  and'll  make  it  easy." 

"But,    I'm     thinking    about    that    island    our    com- 

133 


HIGH    GIRL 

mandress  was  thinking  about  before  she  went  to  sleep." 
the  other  reminded. 

"It  won't  worry  me  if  we  never  find  it,"  West  de- 
clared. "I  think  that  fellow  Hope  must  be  a  nut  any- 
way." 

Gwen  woke  up  just  in  time  to  hear  this  last  sentence. 

She  might  have  become  irate  if  she  had  not  opi/.r- 
tunely  realized  that  West  was  at  the  controller  which  he 
could  make  spell  disaster  so  quickly  in  case  he  were  either 
excited  or  peeved.  As  it  was,  she  scolded  mildly : 

"You  mustn't  call  anyone  you  do  not  know  at  ail 
a  nut,  Mr.  West." 

"  'Scuse  me,  Miss,  but  I  think  it's  the  need  of  a  little 
sleep  anyway,"  he  hedged. 

"Then  sleep  and-wake  up  with  a  better  vision  on  the 
values  of  men,"  she  ordered  rather  curtly. 

Thereupon  she  took  over  the  responsibility  of  pilot- 
ing the  machine,  and  for  nearly  four  hours  West  snored 
so  loudly  he  could  be  heard  above  the  din  of  the  engine. 
All  the  while  Davis  was  unusually  quiet.  Several  times 
Gwen  asked  him  if  he  felt  all  right  and  each  time  he 
assured  her  that  he  did. 

"Then  why  all  the  lack  of  sociability?"  she  de- 
manded. 

"Well,  I'll  tell  you,  I'm  wondering  what  became  of 
the  mysterious  lights,"  he  confessed  with  a  great  deal  of 

134 


HIGH    GIRL 

reluctance. 

"Hasn't  there  been  anything  doing  in  that  line  yet  ?" 
she  asked. 

"No." 

"Why  worry  then?" 

At  that  instant  there  was  a  curious  buzzing  noise 
directly  underneath  the  couple.  It  continued  for  only  a 
few  seconds  and  then  died  away  completely. 

"There  it  is,  that's  what  I'm  really  worrying  about," 
Davis  shouted  in  some  excitement.  "The  other  trip  it  was 
light  and  this  time  it's  a  buzz.  What  kind  of  nerves 
could  stand  such  queer,  weird  things?" 

"Steel  nerves,"  she  answered  confidently.  "We're 
still  flying  all  right,  aren't  we?" 

Davis  saw  the  point.  What  was  the  use  of  borrow- 
ing trouble?  He  would  forget  the  annoying  sounds  of 
the  buzzing  and  attribute  it  to  nothing.  He  got  himself 
right  into  the  proper  mental  attitude  to  regard  the  whole 
situation  thus,  but  right  at  the  wrong  time  the  buzz 
buzzed  again,  and  he  trembled  from  hand  to  foot. 

"Lord !    What  is  that  ?"  he  exploded. 

"Have  a  heart,  Davis,  have  a  heart,"   the  girl  betj 
ged. 

Davis  again  saw  the  point  and  he  was  heartily 
ashamed  for  being  weakling  enough  to  even  pay  any 
attention  to  such  a  slight  disturbance.  Nevertheless  he 

135 


HIGH    GIRL 

could  not  help  knowing  that  Gwen  Dale  was  seriously 
worried  over  the  unwelcome  noise  the  same  as  he  was, 
and  he  determined  to  find  out  what  caused  it.  But,  he 
did  not  get  far  with  his  investigation. 

"Wake  West  up  quickly,"  Gwen  ordered.  "I  think 
I  see  land." 

Davis  got  West  aroused  just  in  time  for  all  hands 
to  realize  that  straight  ahead  of  them  a  strong  search 
light  had  suddenly  started  to  play  all  over  the  heavens 
Gwen  blinked  her  eyes.  Davis  strained  his  eye-sight 
West  got  busy  with  his  telescope  and  was  the  first  to  utter 
a  sound. 

"It's  an  island  about  as  big  as  a  freckle,"  he  yelled 
excitedly. 

"The  island,"  Gwen  emphasized  in  exultation. 

"And,  what  about  the  search-light?"  Davis  asked 
thoughtlessly. 

"It's  his  and  we  must  dodge  it  at  all  costs,"  she  re- 
plied as  she  strenuously  turned  her  attention  to  her  wheel 
and  wings. 

Instantaneously  the  plane  was  flying  at  a  sharply 
curved  angle.  It  was  an  unfortunate  error  in  judgment 
on  the  fair  pilot's  part,  because  it  brought  her  directly 
over  the  island  and  right  into  the  shaft  of  light  which 
emanated  therefrom.  Involuntarily  the  girl  leaned  over 
the  side  of  the  fuselage  and  peered  down  the  line  of  this 

136 


HIGH    GIRL 

shaft  of  light.  Then  and  only  then  she  knew  she  was 
less  than  five  hundred  feet  away  from  Given  C.  Hope, 
the  man  she  sought.  She  knew  that  with  all  his  wiz- 
ardry he  saw  her,  although  she  could  not  see  him.  But 
she  was  determined  to  complete  the  circle  she  had  started 
all  too  prematurely.  And,  by  the  time  she  had  covered 
two-thirds  of  the  distance,  she  regained  her  senses  enough 
to  know  that  a  bright  moonlight  was  staying  her  in  good 
stead.  She  peered  down  over  the  side  of  the  fuselage 
again.  She  saw  the  form  of  a  man  running  at  top 
speed  away  from  a  small  circular  observatory.  She  did 
not  wonder — but  Davis  wondered — why  the  shaft  of 
light  suddenly  became  stationary. 

"For  God's  sake,  don't!"  she  screamed  with  all  her 
might,  as  she  leaned  so  far  over  the  side  of  the  machine 
that  Davis  grabbed  her  around  the  waist  in  alarm.  "Don't ! 
Don't !"  she  repeated  frantically. 

"Hey,  Miss,  you're  steering  dangerously  unsteady," 
West  yelled  as  he  narrowly  missed  losing  his  balance. 

Gwen  immediately  turned  on  her  aerial  anchorage 
switch  and  the  curious  flappers  on  the  ends  of  all  planes 
started  to  operate  furiously  much  to  the  consternation  of 
both  Davis  and  West.  But,  when  in  another  few  seco".  's 
they  realized  the  seaplane  had  come  to  a  dead  stop  and 
was  resting  quietly  mid-air,  their  fears  were  allayed.  As 
soon  as  the  propeller  ceased  to  rotate,  the  girl  leaned  over 

137 


HIGH    GIRL 

the  edge  of  the  fuselage  again  and  looked  down  upon  the 
little  island.  She  was  just  in  time  to  see  Hope  take  a 
flying  leap  and  come  to  an  abrupt  stop.  She  felt  sure 
she  could  see  the  mouth  of  that  cave  and  she  instantly 
thought  of  those  terrorizing  noises  she  had  mistaken  for 
approaching  footsteps.  Simultaneously  she  recalled  the 
inventor's  assertion  that  he  could  blow  up  the  entire 
island  by  simply  stepping  upon  a  certain  trap  plate.  The 
keen  sense  of  realization  that  a  terrible  peril  was  im- 
pending, made  her  uncontrollably  wild  in  her  shoutings 
of  appeal. 

"I  love  you  !  I  want  you  !  Please  let  me  come  down 
and  talk  to  you  again !"  she  begged  in  tones  so  shrill  that 
there  was  no  doubt  but  what  he  who  was  below  heard. 

Davis  and  West  had  both  sighted  the  form  of  the 
man.  West  was  gazing  through  his  telescope  and  was 
the  first  to  see  the  man  wave  his  hands  in  warning. 

"He's  signalling  us  to  move  on,"  the  mechanician  an 
nounced  as  an  apprehension  seized  him.     "We'd  better 
do  it  too,"  he  added  in  the  next  breath. 

"No !    No !   I  will  not  leave  him,"  the  girl  cried. 

"Now  he's  got  his  arms*  stretched  up  to  the  skies  and 
he's  leaning  his  head  far  back,  looking  up  away  from 
us,"  West  shouted. 

"By  jove,  he  must  be  praying,"  Davis  exclaimed. 

"He  is !   He  is !"  Gwen  affirmed.   "He  means  to  end 

138 


HIGH    GIRL 

it  all  now !    Oh  God !" 

"How  does  he  mean  to  end  it  all  now?"   West  de 
manded  as  he  scented  the  true  situation. 

"By  blowing  up  the  whole  island,"  she  replied  as  she 
closed  her  eyes  and  wrung  her  hands. 

West  was  not  slow  to  act.  He  leaped  into  the  fusel- 
age and  turned  on  the  elevating  -switch  like  a  flash. 
Promptly  the  seaplane  dashed  straight  upward  as  an  ele- 
vator with  breath-taking  speed.  One  thousand  feet,  two 
thousand  feet,  three  thousand  feet,  four  thousand  feet  it 
climbed  magnificently.  As  they  were  reaching  five  thou- 
sand feet  all  eyes  of  the  crew  were  fixed  on  the  island 
below. 

Then  there  was  a  low  rumbling.  The  very  next 
instant  there  was  a  terrific  explosion,  accompanied  by 
flaring  flames  and  a  flying  molten  mass  remindful  of  a 
volcanic  eruption.  All  witnesses  saw  the  whole  island 
rise  high  in  the  air.  It  seemed  as  if  it  came  within  a 
thousand  feet  of  them.  The  limp  form  of  a  man  could 
be  seen  to  mount  the  aif  with  the  debris.  Then  all  fell 
with  a  roaring  crash  back  into  the  sea  and  was  submerg- 
ed. The  island  had  been  completely  demolished  and  in  its 
pla(';ti  was  an  angry,  disturbed  ocean. 

The  detonation  had  its  effect  by  way  of  impact  upon 
the  air  currents,  and  the  seaplane  trembled  as  if  it  was 
about  to  be  crumbled  up  like  so  much  flimsy  paper.  West 

139 


was  the  first  to  realize  that  they  were  falling.  He  leaped 
squarely  into  Gwen's  lap,  starting  the  engine  in  the  same 
moment,  and  with  the  desperation  of  a  man  who  knows 
a  terrrible  end  is  near,  he  manipulated  the  controller 
and  the  wings.  The  machine  responded  only  slightly  to 
his  efforts.  Their  descent  was  only  a  little  more  gradual 
and  none  the  less  precarious.  Suddenly  there  was  a 
groaning  in  the  motor  and  with  two  violent  exhaustions 
it  stopped  abruptly.  Ere  another  breath  could  be  taken 
by  anyone  they  were  drenched  with  great  sprays  of  water. 
They  had  crashed  into  the  turbulent  sea.  But  they  had 
landed  on  sound,  seaworthy  pontoons.  This  was  their 
only  advantage  as  they  started  a  hair-raising  battle  to 
survive  the  onslaughts  of  an  aimless  drift  in  the  vast 
reaches  of  a  mighty  and  murderous  deep. 


140 


HIGH    GIRL 
CHAPTER  XI. 


HARROWING  HOURS. 


WHEN  the  plane  settled  on  the  breaker-infested 
surface  of  the  ocean,  it  at  once  became  appar- 
ent to  West  that  the  only  way  to  prevent  her  from  cap- 
sizing was  to  press  Davis  into  service  as  a  mobile  counter- 
balance. 

"Climb  onto  the  top  wing  and  fight  with  all  your 
might  to  throw  yourself  on  the  elevated  ends  as  fast  as 
the  sea  pounds  her  up  and  down,"  he  ordered.  "I'll  do 
my  best  to  get  the  engine  to  going  again.  You  be  ready 
to  drive  her  back  up  in  the  air  if  the  propeller  budges, 
Miss." 

Davis  scrambled  up  on  the  top  wing  and  immediately 
plunged  into  the  most  desperate  struggle  of  his  life.  As 
fast  as  he  would  succeed  in  getting  to  one  extreme  tip 
of  the  wing,  that  side  would  sway  downward  until  the 
lower  wing  dipped  into  the  water.  He  fought  courage- 
ously to  force  his  weight  to  produce  a  balance,  but  it  was 
a  feat  next  to  impossible.  Meanwhile  West  was  exerting 
superhuman  strength  in  his  attempts  to  determine  the 
cause  of  the  engine  trouble,  but  he  too  was  confronted 
by  a  proposition  in  which  the  predominating  elements 
consisted  of  futility.  Gwen  Dale  remained  at  her  post 

141 


HIGH    GIRL 

of  duty,  feeling  every  minute  that  she  was  rapidly  be- 
coming numb.  Occasionally  she  essayed  to  arouse  her- 
self by  taking  a  furtive  glance  at  the  spot  where  it  seemed 
the  island  had  been,  and  she  sighed  so  many  times  that 
she  felt  an  acute  soreness  in  her  throat.  Once  when  the 
plane  was  dashed  to  an  angle  of  forty-five  degrees,  she 
actually  wished  it  would  go  on  over,  bringing  the  relief 
of  the  inevitable.  The  next  moment  she  thought  of  the 
lives  of  her  two  companions  and  she  was  ashamed  of  her- 
self for  yielding  to  such  melancholy. 

It  was  just  at  the  break  of  day  that  Gwen  was  thor- 
oughly aroused  from  all  of  her  stupor.  Straight  ahead  in 
a  trough  of  the  sea  she  discovered  the  form  of  a  man. 
He  was  battling  gamely  to  reach  the  pontoons.  And, 
oh  what  a  wonderful  swimmer  was  this  man ! 

"West!  West!"  the  frightened  girl  called.  "Here'i 
Hope  in  the  water  and  alive !" 

"Where?"  West  demanded  looking  around  quickly. 

"Right  there!"  she  shouted.    "See  him?" 

"Yes."     And  West  was  already  climbing  down  to 
wards  the  pontoons. 

"Rescue  him,  for  God's  sake,  rescue  him!"  she 
screamed  as  she  too  started* to  climb  down  to  the  pon- 
toons. 

Luckily  West  found  a  stout  rope  fastened  to  the 
pontoon  upon  which  he  landed.  He  quickly  threw  it  as 

142 


HIGH    GIRL 

far  out  into  the  sea  as  it  would  go.  The  man  in  distress 
saw  it,  but  could  not  reach  it.  West  realized  his  unhappy 
predicament.  There  was  only  one  thing  to  do  and  that 
was  to  plunge  into  the  sea  and  offer  his  strength  still  free 
from  exhaustion  to  supplement  the  fast-diminishing 
physical  power  of  the  unfortunate.  The  sturdy  mechani- 
cian turned  to  look  after  Gwen.  She  was  just  sliding 
onto  the  pontoon. 

"Look !"  he  yelled.  "Hang  onto  this  rope  and  pull 
with  all  your  might  when  you  see  me  grab  the  fellow." 

"All  right !  Hurry  !"  she  yelled  back  as  she  grasped 
the  rope. 

West  hastily  though  carefully  placed  the  rope  under 
his  left  arm  and  dived  into  the  sea.  Thea  started  a  battle 
royal  which  Neptune  himself  must  have  admired.  West 
fought  every  conceivable  alternating  current  to  reach  the 
man  who  was  rapidly  losing  his  stamina.  Gwen  Dale  was 
sure  the  fight  was  being  waged  in  vain.  The  sea  in- 
creased its  roughness  and  frequently  titanic  waves  would 
hide  both  men  from  her  view.  Notwithstanding  this,  she 
clung  onto  the  rope  well  knowing  her  very  life  depended 
upon  it.  After  what  seemed,  to  be  a  whole  hour  to  her, 
but  what  was  in  reality  only  a  minute,  she  felt  a  tugging 
at  that  rope,  although  she  could  see  no  human  being  any- 
where. Instinctively  she  pulled  with  all  her  might. 
Slowly  she  reclaimed  foot  after  foot  of  the  rope.  Pres- 

143 


HIGH    GIRL 

ently  as  her  strength  started  to  leave  her  entirely,  she  dis- 
covered for  the  first  time  in  many  seconds  the  heads  of 
two  men.  One  was  West  and  the  other — well,  she 
blinked  her  eyes,  and,  she  continued  to  blink  her  eyes 
until  she  saw  four  hands  grasp  the  side  of  the  pontoon. 
Then  she  recognized  West's  companion  in  distress  to  be 
none  other  than  Floyd  Cooper  Davis  ! 

Was  she  disappointed  or  did  she  rejoice?  In  the  first 
place,  it  had  never  occurred  to  her  that  Davis  could  have 
fallen  off  the  upper  wing.  In  the  second  place,  she  was 
extremely  anxious  to  have  Given  C.  Hope  as  her  own ! 

But  there  was  the  man  himself — Davis  struggling 
with  all  of  his  might  to  pull  himself  up  out  of  the  water 
with  West  doing  all  he  could  to  help  him.  Indeed,  even 
the  expert  swimmer  needs  the  mediocre  one  occasionally 
when  comes  moments  of  distress ! 

"Oh !"  Gwen  cried.    "He  fell  in  trying  to  save  me !" 

Thereupon  she  summoned  all  the  strength  she  had 
left  to  assist  first  Davis  and  then  West  back  onto  the 
pontoon.  And,  they  did  get  up  out  of  the  water  safely. 
But,  the  girl  swooned  and  neither  of  her  consorts  had  suf- 
ficient strength  left  to  help  her  much.  However,  Davis 
managed  to  reach  down  into  the  water  and  to  bring  up  a 
handful  of  it,  which  he  dashed  into  the  girl's  face.  The 
results  were  gratifying  and  five  minutes  later  all  three 
of  the  crew  were  once  more  at  their  respective  posts  of 

144 


HIGH    GIRL 

duty. 

The  sun  came  up  a  while  afterwards  and  the  sea 
calmed  down  a  little.  But,  this  was  not  so  very  encour- 
aging, because  the  only  thing  to  be  seen  was  a  nerve-rack- 
ing monotony  :  the  endless  expanse  of  death-dealing 
water. 

"Does  anyone  know  how  near  we  are  to  the  main 
ship  lane?"  Gwen  asked  as  she  brought  to  bear  every 
ounce  of  energy  she  possessed  to  merely  turn  her  head 
tq  West,  who  was  working  away  with  surprising  energy 
on  the  engine. 

"God  alone  knows,  Miss,"  he  replied.  "We've  been 
drifting  at  a  mighty  high  speed." 

"Well,  will  the  engine  ever  run  again?"  she  almost 
demanded. 

"I'm  afraid  not,"  he  answered. 

"Where's  Davis?  In  the  water  again?" 

"No,  he  went  right  back  on  top  as  brave  a  lad  as 
ever  lived,  and  he's  saved  our  lives  a  dozen  times,"  the 
mechanician  declared  with  unrestrained  admiration. 

"Why  doesn't  he  come  down  to  see  if  I'm  all  right  ?" 
she  persisted. 

"If  he  did,  by  the  time  he  got  down,  you  wouldn't  be 
here,"  West  replied. 

"Where  would  I  be?"  she  asked  aimlessly. 

"You'd  be  in  your  watery  grave,  that's  all." 

145 


HIGH    GIRL 

Gwen  shuddered. 

"Guess  he'd  better  stay  on  the  roof  then,"  she  mum- 
bled dryly. 


All  day  long  the  seaplane  had  drifted  hither  and 
thither,  its  occupants  knew  not  where.  No  one  had  got- 
ten a  wink  of  sleep  and  fatigue  became  potential  as  a  foe, 
a  foe  that  must  be  combatted.  Every  eye  in  the  crew 
suffered  from  extreme  strain  as  a  result  of  the  constant 
lookout  for  a  ship.  Seemingly  they  were  far  off  the 
course  of  regular  transatlantic  traffic  and  they  would 
have  to  trust  to  mere  luck  indefinitely  since  they  had  no 
means  of  finding  or  reaching  the  lane  from  which  they 
might  be  picked  up. 

"Oh,  how  I  hate  to  think  of  going  through  a  whole 
night  of  this,"  Gwen  complained  wearily,  as  she  watched 
the  shades  of  darkness  approach. 

"It's  no  use  fretting  about  that,  Miss — nights  will 
come  and  nights  will  go,  and  all  we've  got  to  do  is  our 
level  best,"  was  West's  cheerful  reminder. 

This  night,  however,  did  not  make  anything  like  a 
reassuring  advent  into  the  sea-bound  trio's  lives.  There 
was  a  disturbing  howl  in  the  wind,  which  seemed  likely 
to  develop  into  a  gale  at  any  moment,  and  there  were 
some  black,  dense  clouds  hovering  low.  The  sea  was 

146 


HIGH    GIRL 

choppy  and  fickle.  No  navigator  could  rest  under  such 
conditions  as  existed. 

"What'lL  we  do  if  it  storms?"  the  girl  asked  as  she 
sensed  the  dangers  which  lurked  all  around. 

"We'll  fight  it,"  West  declared  grimly.  "We'll  have 
to — there's  no  starting  this  engine  again  and  so  I'll  go  up 
and  relieve  Davis  for  a  while.  He  must  be  nearly  dead." 

"Oh  yes,  dear  Mr.  Davis,  he  has  been  as  quiet  as  the 
dead  for  a  mighty  long  time,"  Gwen  responded.  "Tell 
him  to  come  down  for  a  nap,  poor  boy." 

West  was  soon  on  the  top  wing  and  he  was  amazed 
at  the  dogged  courage  Davis  was  showing  in  forcing  the 
machine  to  maintain  an  equilibrium. 

"How's  it  going?"  West  asked. 

"Fine,  excepting  I'm  a  little  groggy,"  Davis  gasped. 

"Hop  down  in  the  pit  and  take  a  snooze — I'll  juggle 
the  beastly  thing  for  a  while." 

Davis  did  not  wait  for  a  second  invitation.  He 
climbed  right  down,  landing  in  th'e  outstretched  arms  of 
Gwen. 

"Oh,"  was  all  he  could  say  as  he  stretched  out  and 
let  the  girl  hold  his  head  in  those  arms.  The  very  next 
instant  he  was  sound  asleep. 

The  sight  of  the  man  recuperating  so  peacefully  was 
too  much  for  the  equally  exhausted  girl,  and  the  last  thing 
she  remembered  was  a  mental  note  as  to  what  a  strong 

147 


HIGH    GIRL 

profile  he  had.  It  was  upon  this  profile  her  cheek  rested 
as  she  lapsed  into  a  restful  unconsciousness. 

It  was  something  like  two  hours  before  either  sleep- 
er even  stirred.  Then  both  awakened  with  a  start. 

"What  is  it?"  she  asked  half-dazed. 

"We  must  have  hit  something,"  he  guessed. 

"What  makes  you  think  so?"  she  pressed  as  she 
peered  anxiously  into  the  dark. 

"I  felt  a  jolt  and — look!"  he  exclaimed  pointing  to 
the  starboard. 

"What's  that?" 

"It  looks  like  a  Bronx  billboard." 

"It's  a  ship-camouflaged,"  she  discovered. 

At  this  juncture  West  jumped  down  into  the  fusel- 
age. 

"A  derelict,  mates — our  salvation  if  we  can  only  tie 
to  it,"  he  announced  as  he  started  to  climb  on  down  to 
one  of  the  pontoons.  "Come  quick  and  help  me,  Davis." 

Within  a  twinkling  both  men  were  valiantly  endeav- 
oring to  fasten  the  plane's  one  rope  to  the  derelict's  bow, 
which  was  plainly  visible.  The  wind  was  increasing  in 
velocity  so  rapidly  and  there  was  such  an  ominous  rumb- 
ling' among  the  black  clouds  which  were  concentrating 
overhead  that  all  the  incentive  necessary  was  at  hand  to 
spur  the  stalwarts  to  achieve  their  purpose  at  all  haz- 
ards. But  they  could  not  strike  anything  to  tie  to  and 

148 


HIGH    GIRL 

when  they  saw  the  derelict  was  drifting  away  from  them 
Davis  decided  on  a  bold  stroke. 

"Tie  the  end  of  the  rope  in  a  slip  knot  to  my  wrist 
and  I'll  swim  over  to  the  thing  and  tie  to  something,"  he 
instructed. 

"It'll  be  a  tough  job  to  keep  the  sea  from  smashing 
you  to  death  against  that  steel,"  West  warned. 

"I'll  manage  some  way,"  the  other  replied  confident- 
ly. 

"All  right.  Wait  until  the  Miss  gets  down  to  stand 
by  in  case  I  have  to  go  out  after  you." 

"I'm  right  here  on  the  job,"  Gwen  announced  as  she 
slid  down  to  ftie  pontoon.  "What  are  you  going  to  do?" 

"Davis  is  going  to  swim  over  to  that  derelict  and 
tie  us  to  it,"  West  explained. 

"Oh  no,  I'm  afraid,"  she  objected. 

"Don't  be  afraid,  little  girl,  I'll  turn  the  trick,"  Davis 
reassured  with  a  smile  such  as  graces  only  the  face  of 
a  truly  brave  man. 

At  this  moment  West  had  arranged  the  rope's  end 
around  Davis'  wrist,  and  the  latter  dived  into  the  water 
without  the  slightest  hesitation.  In  the  darkness  of  the 
night  and  the  roughness  of  the  sea,  it  was  difficult  for 
the  two  watchers  to  keep  track  of  his  movements.  Finally 
all  trace  of  him  was  gone  for  fully  five  minutes.  Just 
(as  consternation  was  rising  high  in  two  anxious  brains, 

149 


HIGH    GIRL 

they  heard  his  voice: 

"Come  over  to  my  house  and  see  me,"  the  voice 
yelled. 

By  supreme  straining  of  the  eye-sight  Gwen  and 
West  sighted  Davis  standing  on  what  looked  to  be  the 
upturned  side  of  the  ship.  He  was  waving  his  hands 
wildly. 

"Can  you  pull  us  closer  to  you?"  West  shouted  as 
he  felt  a  tugging  which  assured  him  Davis  had  tied  them 
to  the  derelict. 

"Sure  thing — we've  got  anything  you  want  over 
here,"  Davis  yelled  back  jovially. 

It  was  at  least  fifteen  minutes  before'Davis  accom- 
plished the  task  of  pulling  the  seaplane  alongside  the 
floating  shipwreck.  Even  then  Gwen  had  great  difficulty 
in  getting  on  board  even  with  the  assistance  of  both 
men.  Once  she  almost  slipped  into  the  water,  but  the 

strong  hand  of  Davis  saved  her. 

********** 

The  tired  trio  had  actually  enjoyed  fully  a  half 
hour's  stay  on  the  capacious  portion  of  the  ship  which 
maintained  a  remarkably  even  keel  well  above  the  break- 
ers. As  unsafe  as  it  was,  it  seemed  to  all  to  be  a  haven 
of  security,  and  they  ceased  to  worry  so  much  about  the 
storm  which  threatened  to  descend  upon  them  at  any 
moment. 

150 


HIGH    GIRL 

Then  something  happened.  It  was  the  last  thing  any 
mortal  could  expect  under  those  extraordinary  circum- 
stances. A  strange,  heavily  bearded  man,  attired  in  a 
tattered  uniform  of  an  American  seaman,  suddenly  leap- 
ed into  sight  at  the  other  end  of  the  ship.  He  howled  like 
a  madman  as  he  ran  straight  toward  the  stunned  group. 
Before  Davis  could  bring  himself  to  believe  he  was  not 
having  a  terrible  nightmare  the  stranger  attacked  hin. 
with  a  viciousness  equal  to  that  of  the  wildest  beast. 
There  followed  a  hair-raising,  blood-curdling  combat 
The  aggressor  was  unmistakably  bent  on  committing 
murder;  the  defendant  was  gamely  struggling  to  over- 
come his  adversary. 

West  was  too  surprised  to  arouse  himself  to  action 
at  the  beginning,  but  when  he  heard  Gwen  Dale  scream  in 
great  terror,  he  began  a  participation  which  soon  ended 
the  affray  with  the  stranger  pinioned  down  to  the  boat 
on  his  back  and  groaning  from  the  pain  of  the  finishing 
blow  he  had  received. 

Davis  tore  his  shirt  to  shreds  in  order  to  bind  the 
gladiator  and  keep  him  captive.  When  with  the  aid  of 
both  West  and  Gwen  he  then  completed  the  job  of  in- 
suring the  man's  helplessness  indefinitely,  he  peered 
down  into  his  face. 

"Where  in  the  devil  did  you  come  from?"  he  de- 
manded. 

151 


HIGH    GIRL 

The  prisoner  rolled  his  eyes  as  he  mumbled:  "For 
days.  Where  from,  where  to,  nowhere.  Just  nights." 

"Guess  he's  a  little  daffy  from  the  wallops,"  West 
surmised. 

"Oh  no,  blows  like  that  are  sweet  to  me  after  all 
these  headaches  I've  had  for  days,"  the  man  declared. 

"The  only  survivor  of  this  wreck,  I  suppose,"  Davis 
observed,  looking  up  at  Gwen  who  strll  trembled  from 
head  to  foot. 

"Yes — starving  to  death  and  oh  God,  how  thirsty," 
the  sailor  muttered  in  husky  tones. 

"Which  explains  the  assault — the  man's  crazed  by 
his  hunger  and  thirst,"  Davis  commented,  again  glanc- 
ing up  at  Gwen.  Thereupon  he  produced  a  tin  box  out 
of  an  inside  pocket  and  opened  it.  "Only  four  beef  cubes 
left,  but  he  shall  have  them  all,"  he  said  as  he  started  to 
feed  the  poor  man. 

"Here's  a  couple  of  swallows  of  water,"  West  said 
as  he  handed  Davis  his  canteen. 

Even  while  the  last  cube  was  being  vigorously  mas- 
ticated by  the  victim  of  harrowing  experiences,  the  storm 
which  had  been  brewing  so  long,  came  down  upon  the 
group.  The  sea  started  to  pound  the  seaplane  against 
the  side  of  the  derelict,  and  it  was  a  foregone  conclusion 
the  weaker  craft  would  be  broken  in  two. 

152 


HIGH    GIRL 

"We've  got  to  have  what  food  and  water  there's 
left,"  West  declared. 

"Yes,  by  all  means — I'll  get  it,"  Davis  promptly 
agreed  as  undaunted  as  ever. 

"Oh,  don't  tell  me  he  has  to  go  back  into  that  ter- 
rible water  again."  Gwen  chimed  in  appealingly  as  she 
stared  at  West. 

"Either  him  or  me's  got  to  do  it,"  the  latter  replied. 

"I  will,"  Davis  persisted  firmly.  "But,  for  God's 
sake,  West,  hold  onto  Miss  Dale  and  don't  let  her  slide 
into  the  sea." 

It  was  a  sudden  lurching  of  the  derelict  which  in- 
spired him  to  issue  this  warning,  and  as  he  noted  the 
storm  was  increasing  in  fury  at  an  alarming  rate  he  ran 
down  to  the  place  where  he  had  tied  the  plane  up  and 
with  remarkable  agility  leaped  into  the  water  clinging  to 
the  rope  with  both  hands. 

Thus  he  managed  to  reach  the  much-battered  aerial 
vessel  which  resembled  a  huge  ghost  in  the  darkness  of 
the  night.  Hand  over  hand  he  tugged  and  pulled  until 
he  had  reached  his  insecure  destination.  Giant  waves 
swept  over  him  constantly,  but  he  always  came  through 
hanging  tenaciously  to. the  rope.  Once  on  a  pontoon  he 
lost  no  time  in  climbing  into  the  fuselage,  where  he 
hastily  gathered  all  the  food  and  water  he  could  find. 
Without  even  pausing  to  rest  for  a  moment  he  started 

153 


HIGH    GIRL 

back  on  the  perilous  return  journey,  still  with  the  succor 
of  the  trusty  rope.  And  he  made  it  almost  easily,  for 
Floyd  Cooper  Davis  had  become  as  near  a  superman  as 
it  was  possible  to  be.  He  had  assimilated  suffering  and 
privation  far  better  than  West,  who  looked  as  if  he  were 
about  to  drop  in  his  tracks  at  any  instant. 

"Thank  God  that  you're  back  safe,"  Gwen  mur- 
mured as  her  trembling  increased.  As  she  uttered  the 
words  she  pushed  herself  into  his  arms  and  nestled  close 
to  his  bosom.  "You  are  such  a  wonderful  man,"  she 
whispered  a  moment  later. 

Davis  felt  a  thrill  go  through  his  very  heart  as  he 
heard  these  words,  but  he  made  no  comment.  He  pos- 
sessed too  much  manhood  to  take  advantage  of  a  situa- 
tion he  felt  convinced  was  produced  by  the  fact  that  the 
girl  was  verging  on  delirium  brought  on  by  the  long,  un- 
broken series  of  hardships  she  had  been  forced  to  endure. 
~"  Wonder  if  there's  any  shelter  to  be  had  on  this  boat 
at  all?"  he  asked  as  he  took  advantage  of  the  streaks  of 
lightning  to  peer  down  the  full  length  of  it.  The  bound 
men  at  his  feet  squirmed.  All  looked  down  at  him. 

"That  way,"  he  gasped  as  he  tried  to  indicate  the  di- 
rection from  which  he  had  come. 

"I'll  see,"  West  announced  and  he  promptly  made 
his  way  to  the  end.  He  returned  a  moment  later  and 
announcing  the  discovery  of  a  lookout's  nest  fore,  he 

154 


HIGH    GIRL 

picked  up  the  sailor  and  started  for  it,  bidding  the  others 
to  follow.  Davis  took  Gwen  bodily  into  his  arms  just  as 
a  drenching  downpour  of  rain  started.  And  oh  what  a 
haven  they  found !  True,  it  was  only  a  cold,  barren, 
water-soaked  semi-circular  nest  so  small  that  the  four  hu- 
man beings  could  just  barely  squeeze  into  it,  but  it's  up- 
turned side  served  as  a  roof  and  kept  some  of  the  rain 
and  wind  away.  As  inadequate  as  it  was  and  as  terror- 
izing as  life  was  in  it,  Davis  earnestly  breathed  a  prayer 
of  thanks  to  the  Supreme  Being  for  it. 

"It's  where  I've  lived  for  days  and  nights,"  the  sailor 
gasped. 

"No  wonder  you  went  plumb  crazy  then,"  West 
commented  as  he  shuddered.  "I  can  feel  something  giv- 
ing away  in  my  brain  already." 

"Tut  tut,"  Davis  warned.  "This  is  no  time  for  pes- 
simism. It  is  an  ideal  time  to  prove  one's  optimism.  It 
might  be  much  worse." 

$j|c4I4'1tc4[Itt4<]lc$ 

All  night  long,  with  the  tempest  never  abating,  this 
stranded  group  huddled  in  this  nest.  Just  after  daylight 
the  skies  cleared  up  and  the  sea  became  as  calm  as  a  sheet 
of  glass.  Gwen  had  slept  a  good  part  of  the  terrible 
night  in  Davis'  arms.  None  of  the  men  would  sleep. 
Each  had  expressed  the  desire  to  serve  the  whole  and  con- 
sequently all  three  did.  The  sailor  had  so  far  recovered 

155 


HIGH    GIRL 

his  sanity  that  he  made  intelligent  inquiries  as  to  how  it 
happened  his  new  friends  came  on  board  and  finally  West 
released  him  from  the  improvised  restraint  feeling  sure 
there  would  be  no  more  trouble  from  him. 

"Where  are  we?"  Gwen  asked  as  soon  as  she  got 
her  eyes  open. 

"God  alone  knows,  my  dear  girl,"  Davis  replied. 
"But  we're  going  to  take  advantage  of  the  fair  weather 
of  this  day  to  do  all  in  our  power  to  attract  some  passing 
ship  if  there  is  such  a  thing  in  this  latitude." 

Painfully  he  crawled  out  of  the  nest  and  assisted 
Gwen  after  him.  West  and  the  sailor  followed.  Once 
upon  her  feet  the  girl  took  a  quick  survey  of  the  sur- 
rounding sea. 

"Where's  my  seaplane?"  she  demanded  in  consterna- 
tion. 

"Gone  forever,"  Davis  informed.  "We  saw  her  go 
down  just  as  a  flash  of  lightning  lingered  over  her  soon 
after  you  went  to  sleep." 

"Oh!  what  if  we  had  been  on  it?"  she  asked  as  she 

quailed. 

"We  would  have  been  where  we  have  to  go  sooner 
or  later  anyway,"  Davis  replied  philosophically.  "But 
now  for  breakfast."  Whereupon  he  smilingly  began  pro- 
ducing the  tin  boxes  he  had  recovered  from  the  ill-fated 
aerial  pathfinder. 

156 


HIGH    GIRL 

As  they  devoured  the  all  too  insufficient  supply  of 
food  which  Davis  doled  gut  as  equally  as  he  could,  they 
all  became  better  acquainted. 

"My  name  is  Frank  Slavin  and  this  was  my  first  voy- 
age," the  sailor  said.  "We  ran  into  an  iceberg  and  all 
hands  except  me  went  overboard  to  death.  As  near  as 
I  can  figure  it  all  happened  six  days  ago,  and  I've  been 
floating  around  desperately  ever  since." 

"What  boat  is  this?"  West  asked. 

"A  tramp  steamer  called  John  Henry." 

"Where  was  it  bound  for?" 

"England.     We  started  from  Boston." 

"What  did  you  do  before  you  shipped  out?"  Davis 
inquired. 

"I  aspired  high,  but  not  wisely,"  the  man  confessed. 

"In  what  line?" 

"Musical.  I  thought  I.  could  write  the  great  Ameri- 
can opera,  and  I  almost  starved  to  death  in  the  attempt. 
In  fact,  it  was  hunger  and  an  inability  to  get  a  job  at  any- 
thing else  that  led  me  to  this  cursed  boat." 

"So  here,  Miss  Dale,  is  another  aspirant  come  to  grief 
and  no  good  end,"  Davis  remarked  as  he  glanced  at  the 
much  interested  girl. 

"Oh,  but  I  will  win  out  yet  if  I^can  ever  get  my  two 
feet  on  dry  land  again,"  the  sailor  persisted. 

"Then  you  hold  no  grudge  against  the  system  be- 

157 


HIGH    GIRL 

cause  of  your  failure?"  Gwen  asked  eagerly. 

"What's  the  use  to  hold  a  grudge  ?"  he  asked  sagely. 
"There's  no  inspiration  in  grudges  and  you  have  to  have 
inspiration  in  order  to  'come  back'  as  the  slang  experts 
say  it." 

"Don't  you  know  that  humble  genius  has  little  or  no 
chance  to  get  a  hearing  anywhere  today  ?"  she  pointed  out 
significantly. 

"No,  I  didn't  know  it,"  he  admitted  innocently. 
"How  did  any  of  the  big  ones  start  then?" 

"Luck  helped  them  in  most  cases,"  she  declared. 

"I've  got  to  differ,  lady,  I— 

"Hooray !"  West  shouted  at  that  moment,  arising  to 
his  feet  and  jumping  up  and  down  as  if  he  had  suddenly 
gone  mad. 

"What  is  it?"  the  other  three  demanded,  likewise 

getting  up. 

"A  ship !  A  ship !"  he  proclaimed  as  he  pointed  at  a 
trail  of  black  smoke  coming  up  over  the  horizon. 

"You're  right,  mate,"  the  sailor  yelled. 

"Wonderful!"  Gwen  exclaimed  as  she  waxed  wild 

with  joy. 

"Now  all  hands,  sparing  the  lady's,  to  signal  the  ves- 
sel," Davis  ordered. 

Every  bit  of  wearing  apparel  all  three  men  could 
spare  without  exposing  their  bodies  too  much  to  the  ele- 

158 


HIGH    GIRL 

ments  was  pressed  into  service  in  making  a  quite 
large  though  crude  flag.  The  various  garments  were 
spliced  together  with  splinters  the  men  were  able  to  dig 
out  of  the  frame  parts  of  the  derelict  with  their  fingers. 
Not  a  one  of  them  escaped  shedding  blood  and  enduring 
much  acute  pain  in  this  desperate  work,  but  they  were 
all  happy  just  the  same.  When  the  flag  was  completed 
they  abided  their  time  until  the  ship's  nose  appeared 
over  the  horizon  and  then  the  stalwart  shoulders  of  Davis 
served  as  a  standing  place  for  West,  while  he  energeti- 
cally waved  the  distress  signals  which  must  be  discovered. 
West  waved  until  he  felt  as  if  his  arms  would  be  twisted 
off  and  Davis  held  steady  long  after  he  began  feeling  a 
dizziness  in  his  head. 

Could  Fate  hold  out  longer  against  such  courageous 
souls?  No.  Their  signals  were  sighted  when  the  good 
ship  was  more  than  two  miles  away,  and  it  was  the  work 
of  only  two  hours  for  the  captain  to  get  a  life-boat  to 
them  and  back  again  safely  on  board.  It  was  the  mighty 
liner  George  Washington,  bearing  President  Woodrow 
Wilson  on  his  final  voyage  from  Europe  to  America,  and 
the  signals  of  the  stranded  quartette  had  possibly  spared 
the  vessel  from  colliding  with  the  derelict,  as  it  was 
directly  in  its  pathway. 

When  President  Wilson  heard  that  among  the 
rescued  party  was  Gwen  Dale,  the  American  aviatrix  who 

159 


HIGH    GIRL 

was  the  first  girl  to  make  a  non-stop  flight  across  the  At- 
lantic, he  promptly  went  to  her,  warmly  congratulating 
her  upon  her  fine  achievements  and  her  good  fortune  in 
being  spared  from  a  tragic  death  far  at  sea.  He  shook 
her  hand  heartily  and  in  turn  extended  his  democratic 
greetings  to  her  three  companions. 

"May  I  not  add  the  felicitation  that  some  wayv  every 
mortal  seems  to  find  chances  of  survival  better  than  ever 
since  a  world  war  has  obliterated  so  much  of  the  resigna- 
tion to  mere  fate?"  the  distinguished  statesman  smiled 
broadly  and  kindly. 

********** 

The  whole  story  of  all  the  thrilling  experiences  of 
Gwen  Dale  and  her  companions  had  been  wirelessed  and 
published  forty  hours  before  the  George  Washington 
reached  port.  The  net  result  was  surely  an  augmenting 
of  the  interest  of  the  record-breaking  crowd  at  and  for 
miles  around  the  Hoboken  pier. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dale  were  the  first  to  greet  Gwen 
when  she  descended  the  gang-plank.  Weeping  for  joy 
was  by  no  means  confined  to  these  worry-worn  parents. 
Davis,  West  and  Frank  Slavin  stood  by  unobtrusively 
watching  the  touching  scene.  Finally  Gwen  recovered 
sufficiently  to  think  of  them. 

"Father  and  mother,  you  owe  everything  to  Mr. 
Davis  and  Mr.  West,  the  two  great  heroes  of  my  life," 

160 


HIGH    GIRL 

she  said  impressively. 

"Leave  me  out  of  it,  please,"  West  begged.  "If  I 
was  half  as  good  a  man  as  Davis,  I'd  be  proud,  but  I'm 
not,  so  I'm  not  proud." 

"Come,  come,  pal,"  Davis  beseeched.  "Why  spoil 
my  quiet  celebration  over  landing  safely  by  embarrassing 
me  like  that  ?  Anyway,  here's  Slavin  too — he  did  some- 
thing." 

"I  owe  everything  to  you  folks,"  Slavin  promptly 
replied. 

"Well,  anyway,  we  won't  argue  the  subject,"  Davis 
protested.  "And  Miss  Dale "  whereupon  he  im- 
pulsively plunged  his  hand  into  a  coat  pocket. 

"Yes,"  she  responded  eager  over  his  pause. 

"Er — when  you've  gotten  all  rested,  I'll  call,  if  you 
don't  mind,"  he  ventured. 

"Certainly  you're  going  to  call,  not  once  but  often," 
she  laughed. 

"But  this  is  on  very  special  business,"  he  specified 
as  he  withdrew  his  empty  hand  from  his  pocket  appar- 
ently satisfied. 

"Now  you  have  me  curious,"  she  confessed.  "What 
is  the  nature  of  the  special  business?" 

"Some  time  during  those  awful  hours  after  we 
abandoned  the  plane,  something  very  strange  came  into 
my  possession,"  he  stated.  "I  admit  I  am  mystified  over 

161 


HIGH    GIRL 

it — and — and — even  at  that  I  think  you  will  be  interested 
in  it." 

"Gosh!"  Gwen  ejaculated.  "This  is  a  swell  way  to 
leave  a  fellow,  all  up  in  the  air  and  wondering  silly." 

"I'm  sorry,  but,  as  you  will  agree  later,  it  is  best  to 
undertake  to  solve  this  mystery  under  more  auspicious 
circumstances  than  these,"  he  apologized. 

Before  Gwen  had  any  chance  to  glean  more  advance 
information,  Davis  had  warmly  and  graciously  said  good- 
bye to  her  and  her  parents  and  departed  with  Slavin  as 
his  charge. 


162 


HIGH    GIRL 
CHAPTER  XII. 


So  RISETH  HOPES  FROM  THOSE  WHICH  HAVE  FALLEN. 


Two  whole  days  and  two  whole  nights  passed  and 
Gwen  Dale  had  received  no  word  from  Floyd  Cooper 
Davis.  She  was  both  worried  and  exasperated,  worried 
lest  he  might  be  ill  and  she  surely  would  be  exasperated 
if  he  was  not !  By  the  time  noon  of  the  third  day  rolled 
around  the  girl  could  not  endure  the  strain  any  longer 
and  she  telephoned  to  him. 

"Say,  are  you  working  for  some  insane  asylum?"  she 
demanded  jestingly  through  the  telephone. 

"No,  I've  been  in  the  employ  of  one  Morpheus  prac- 
tically ever  since  I  left  you,"  he  replied.  "Never  slept 
so  much  at  a  stretch  in  my  life,  but  gee,  I  feel  great  now." 

"So  do  I,  now,  but  I  had  to  do  the  'phoning  to  get 
that  way,"  she  reprimanded. 

"Oh,  I  was  going  to  call  you  up  today  for  sure,"  he 
declared.  "I  want  to  come  up  this  evening  and  deliver 
this  mystery  thing  to  you." 

"But,  I  don't  want  you  to  wait  until  this  evening ;  I 
want  you  to  come  up  right  now,"  she  ordered  rather  au- 
tocratically. 

"Then  there's  nothing  for  me  to  do  except  to  obey, 

163 


HIGH    GIRL 

so  here  I  come,"  he  accepted  and  the  next  minute  he  was 
on  his  way. 

The  hour  she  had  to  wait  for  the  man  seemed  like 
an  age  to  Gwen,  but  when  she  got  her  first  glimpse  of 
him  in  a  rich  brown  suit  of  the  latest  style,  and  all  that 
goes  to  make  a  handsome  man  look  irresistible  to  a  girl 
who  knows  he  deserves  admiration,  she  forgot  all  her 
fretting,  threw  her  arms  around  his  neck  and  squeezed 
him  until  he  winced. 

"Some  unexpected  reception,  I'll  say,"  he  laughed. 

"Oh  boy,  I'm  glad  to  see  you."  And  she  would  not 
let  loose  of  him. 

"Say,  you  are  a  suffragette,  aren't  you?"  he  ven- 
tured, as  he  patted  her  pretty  cheek. 

"Why  do  you  mention  that  now?"  she  inquired. 

"Why,  you're  not  depending  upon  me  for  a  single 
bit  of  the  initiative,  and  you  don't  seem  prone  to  grant 
any  of  the  referendum,"  he  joked. 

"That's  all  right,  Mister  Davis,  you'll  have  your 
chances  yet,"  she  reminded  as  a  mischievous  smile  played 
over  her  face. 

"I  have  my  doubts,"  he  answered. 

"What  do  you  mean,  you  have  your  doubts  ?" 

"Well,  let's  look  into  this  mystery  and  perhaps  we'll 
both  understand  better,"  he  suggested  as  he  placed  his 
hand  in  his  pocket. 

164 


HIGH    GIRL 

"Oh  yes,  I  had  most  forgotten  about  that,"  she  said, 
taking  Davis  by  the  hand  and  leading  him  into  an  ad- 
joining reception  room,  where  they  made  themselves 
comfortable  closely  side-by-side  on  a  luxuriously  up- 
holstered davenport. 

'You  knew  this  man  Hope  pretty  well,  didn't  you?" 
he  began. 

"Yes,  and  oh  what  a  terrible  shame  it  is  that  he 
should  go  as  he  did !"  she  replied  as  an  expression  of  sad- 
ness swept  suddenly  over  her  face. 

"If  you  could  have  induced  him  to  come  back  to 
civilization,  what  then?" 

"Oh,  please  don't  cross-examine  me  like  that,"  she 
begged. 

"For  the  sake  of  humanity  I  must." 

"Why  ?" 

"Given  C.  Hope  was  a  wonder  and  there  must  be 
some  way  to  impress  upon  the  world  at  large  that  cir- 
cumstances which  drove  him  into  oblivion  must  n6t  be 
allowed  to  prevail  in  the  future.  Here  is  the  most  elo- 
quent evidence  of  all  the  man's  rare  genius."  Davis 
pulled  an  odd-shaped  ten-ounce  bottle  out  of*  his  pocket 
and  handed  it  to  Gwen.  "An  autobiography  in  a  bottle — 
a  thousand  words  of  it  engraved  on  the  metal  cone  you 
see  fastened  in  the  middle,  and,  there  are  some  remark- 

165 


HIGH    GIRL 

able  evidences  of  the  deepest  lore  in  several  sage  state- 
ments." 

Gwen  examined  the  bottle  with  the  keenest  interest, 
but  she  could  not  see  any  of  the  words  on  the  metal  cone. 

"Where  are  the  thousand  words?"  she  asked. 

"Watch  closely,"  he  instructed  as  he  placed  a  finger 
on  the  bottom  of  the  bottle. 

Instantly  there  was  a  phosphorescent  glow.  It 
emanated  from  inside  the  cone,  and,  curiously  enough,  it 
not  only  illuminated,  but  it  magnified  and  Hope's  last 
message  to  the  world  could  be  read  with  comparative 
ease,  and,  this  message  had  been  given  every  protection 
against  the  onslaughts  of  the  deep,  inasmuch  as  it  was 
encased  in 'water-tight  and  air-tight  re-enforced  glass, 
which  had  been  blown  around  it  most  adeptly. 

My  life  was  everyone's  life,  but  np  one 
wanted  it. 

Modernism  murders  more  audaciously 
though  not  so  bloodily. 

Men  ignore,  women  deplore  unknown 
genius,  the  bore. 

I'd  rather  be  a  bricklayer  than  a  talented 
brick. 

These   and   many    other    recorded    musings   caught 
166 


HIGH    GIRL 

Gwen's  eyes.  Then  Davis  called  her  attention  to  a  series 
of  lines  at  the  very  top  of  the  cone. 

She's  a  modern  girl  of  the  clouds — really 
a  high  girl.  God  spare  me  from  lowering 
her  any.  I  would  if  I  returned  to  claim  her, 
because  I  think  aspiring  would  be  a  folly  in 
my  case,  since  I  am  so  unforgiving,  and 
anyway,  I  can  do  a  better  turn  by  making 
mankind  sorry  than  I  can  by  making  one 
girl  glad.  Others  should  be  saved  by  my 
radicalism. 

"Oh  he  is  a  real  martyr  to  the  cause  of  giving  others 
better  chances  than  he  had,"  she  exclaimed  in  admira- 
tion 

"Yes,  undoubtedly,"  Davis  agreed.  "But,  read  his 
message  further,"  he  then  urged,  as  he  pointed  out  an- 
other series  of  small  lines  whereupon  Gwen  read  the 
following : 

My  long-distance  electric  sign  failed  to 
work  on  the  promised  night,  no  doubt  just 
to  remind  me  that  I  wasn't  invincible,  and 
the  thought  of  not  being  invincible  is  most 
discouraging  to  me.  I've  always  had  things 
happen  to  me  like  this  just  at  the  wrong 

167 


HIGH    GIRL 

time,  and  I  wasn't  built  to  stand  it,  so 
there's  nothing  to  do  but  to  fall  as  grace- 
fully as  I  can. 

"Poor  man,"  the  girl  murmured  sympathetically. 
"This  explains  the  failure  of  that  never-to-be-forgotten 
night  when  the  skeptical  reporter  had  his  inning  in 
triumph." 

•  "Yes,  and  it  gives  a  perfect  insight  to  Hope's  nature 
which  is  thus  proven  to  be  all  out  of  tune  with  the  na- 
tural vicissitudes  every  mortal  must  meet  successfully 
in  order  to  win  out,"  Davis  observed.  "Hope  possessed 
everything  necessary  to  attaining  high  purposes,  but  he 
lacked  one  indispensable  essential." 

"What  was  that  ?" 

"Plain,  every-day  sticktuitiveness." 

"You're  right." 

"And  he  had  too  much  of  another  trait,"  Davis  press- 
ed on. 

"What?" 

"Sensitiveness." 

"I'm  sure  of  it." 

"Now  look  here  and  see  a  deep  mystery  cleared  up," 
the  deeply  interested  man  continued.  Thereupon  Owen 
read  the  following  in  the  bottle : 

When  I  attached  a   secret   searchlight  to 
168 


HIGH    GIRL 

Gwen  Dale's  seaplane,  my  purpose  was  one 
of  fiendish  desire  to  confuse  her  should  she 
attempt  to  fly  back  to  me.  I  hooked  the 
storage  battery  up  with  the  engine,  and 
timed  it  so  it  would  occasionally  send  out  a 
flash  of  light  for  a  few  seconds  after 
enough  revolutions  to  cover  only  a  couple 
hundred  miles.  All  the  while  I've  feared  it 
might  not  work  perfectly,  and  there  would 
be  a  nerve-racking  buzz  which  would  surely 
drive  her  mad. 

"Oh!"  the  girl  gasped  as  she  shuddered  convulsive- 
ly in  unpleasant  memories.  "Isn't  that  uncanny !" 

"Very,  and  it  shows  another  side  to  so  much  genius," 
he  commented. 

"Yes,  I  see  it,  the  dangerous,  harmful  side " 

"Exactly — the  side  which  must  be  curbed  while  the 
better  side  is  being  given  a  fair  chance  to  develop." 

"How  did  you  ever  happen  to  get  this  bottle?"  she 
demanded  suddenly. 

"Do  you  remember  the  last  time  I  went  into  the 
water — when  I  went  back  to  the  plane  for  our  remain- 
ing supplies?" 

"Yes." 

"When  I  went  under  one  of  the    breakers,  I    felt 

169 


HIGH    GIRL 

something  strike  me  on  the  head,"  he  explained.  "Sheer 
instinct  made  me  grab  at  my  head  with  one  hand  while 
I  clung  to  the  rope  with  the  other,  and  much  to  my  sur- 
prise I  discovered  I  held  a  bottle.  I  jammed  it  in  my 
pocket  and  forgot  it  until  I  got  on  the  George  Washing- 
ton." 

"Remarkable,  isn't  it?" 

"Exceedingly  so,  but  here  see  one  more  important 
passage  in  this  farewell  note,"  he  suggested  as  he  turned 
the  bottle  around.  Then  Gwen  read  the  following: 

Knowing  my  shortcomings,  I  can  do 
some  overcoming  by  refusing  the  oppor- 
tunity this  high  girl  could  bring  to  me  by 
refusing  and  letting  myself  be  an  example 
rather  out  of  the  ordinary.  You  see  I  al- 
ways did  lie  more  or  less,  I  lied  to  her. 
I  told  her  I  was  married.  God  knows  all  * 
women  were  too  fortunate  to  ever  join  me 
in  wedlock.  So  I  make  up  for  some  rascal- 
ity by  trying  to  help  others  now  without  ad- 
mitting that  the  rascality  of  others  does 
not  exceed  my  own. 

"Well,  it  is  to  his  credit  that  he  did  deny  himself 
easy  sailing  in  order  to  spare  his  brother  and  sister  un- 
known aspirants  from  the  rough  sailing  which  is  so 

170 


HIGH    GIRL 

ccmmonly  allotted  to  them,"  she  commented. 

"Precisely,  and,  even-  though  he  had  his  faults  and 
his  brave  sacrifice  may  be  futile,  the  example  he  set  is 
worthy  of  the  widest  extolling  for  what  effect  it  will  have 
on  society  in  general,"  he  observed.  "I  intend  to  devote 
a  life-time  to  this  very  work  of  exploring  for  the  talented 
in  need.  Henceforth  my  sole  purpose  is  to  help  others  in 
their  purpose." 

"And  I  join  you  in  that,"  she  announced  enthu- 
siastically. 

"Good !  Our  first  hope,  thanks  to  the  honored  and 
lamented  Hope,  shall  be  Frank  Slavin,"  he  proclaimed. 
"You  must  hear  him  sing  and  play  his  own  compositions. 
He's  really  a  combination  of  Victor  Herbert  and  Verdi, 
and,  as  totally  unheralded  as  such  as  he  could  possibly 
be.  However,  by  the  time  our  exploitation  reaches  its 
climax,  the  whole  world  will  know  him  well  as  one  of 
its  best  musical  geniuses." 

"Won't  that  be  grand !"  she  exclaimed  in  unalloyed 
ecstacy.  "And  we  found  him  in  more  oblivion  than  any- 
one else  ever  had  to  combat,"  she  added  as  she  recalled 
that  awful  night  on  the  drifting  derelict. 

"In  conclusion  along  this  line  of  thought,  I  want  to 
confide  in  you  to  the  extent  of  announcing  my  intention 
of  launching  some  sort  of  a  publication  devoted  to  finding 
and  helping  such  luckless  aspirants  as  Given  C.  Hope 

171 


HIGH    GIRL 

<•  :  :  Frank  Slavin.  For  once  I  am  truly  glad  I  do  know 
something  about  journalism,  for  it  is  a  potential  medium 
for  conducting  such  a  campaign  as  I  plan." 

Gwen  Dale  was  profoundly  impressed.  She  realized 
that  the  happy  upshot  of  all  the  extraordinary  experiences 
she  had  survived  was  a  most  exalted  inspiration  to  a  most 
admirable  man  of  very  high  character.  This  was  reward 
enough  since  it  certainly  presaged  unbounded  usefulness 
to  humanity.  And — ah  yes,  she  did  want  to  have  a  place 
in  the  work.  Moreover,  she  was  still  a  suffragette  in 
ideas  and  ideals  though  a  most  charming  one,  delightfully 
devoid  of  any  of  the  mannish  proclivities  one  is  so  apt 
to  associate  \vith  thoughts  of  the  very  word. 

"I — I — don't  know  how  to  say  something  I  want 
very  much  to  say  to  you,"  she  stammered  in  some  con- 
fusion as  she  felt  a  blush  spread  all  over  her  winsome 
face. 

"Well,  then,  I'll  say  something  I  do  know  how  to 
say,"  he  ventured. 

"What?" 

"I  love  you  and  I  want  you  to  honor  me  by  becom- 
ing my  wife,"  he  proposed. 

Gwen  looked  the  man  squarely  in  the  eyes  and  most 
soberly  she  heaved  a  mighty  big  sigh. 

"At  last,"  she  murmured  as  she  crept  right  into 
his  arms. 

172 


HIGH    GIRL 

"Is  that  your  unique  way  of  saying  yes?"  he  asked 
quite  helpless  to  repress  a  smile  of  amusement. 

"Yes,  land  I  just  feel  so  happy  that  I  could  hop  into 
a  seaplane  and  fly  a  million  feet  high  for  joy,"  she  con- 
fessed coyly. 

"What's  the  use  of  you  flying  any  more,  you're  high 
girl  now,"  he  demurred. 

And,  as  they  divided  their  time  between  planning 
their  future  and  reading  more  of  the  contents  of  Hope's 
odd  bottle  of  autobiography,  they  exchanged  kisses  so 
frequently  and  with  so  little  regard  to  the  rest  of  the 
world  that  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dale  were  attracted  from  an- 
other room  and  were  able  to  witness  fully  five  minutes 
of  a  pure  love's  manifestation  quite  undiscovered. 

THE  END. 


173 


The  First  of  His 
Family 

A  Story  Wherein  the  Game  is  Ambition  Versus 
Environment 

£Y  <DELBERT  £SSEX  <DAVENPORT. 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 
CHAPTER  I 


AFTER  being  a  hopeless,  reckless  victim  of  criminal 
environments  all  his  life,  "Kid"  Black,  a  fellow  of 
twenty-five  years  of  incessant  sullenness,  suddenly  discov- 
ered he  possessed  a  conscience.  This  awakening  from  the 
stupor  induced  by  evil,  aimless  drifting  came  as  a  result 
of  being  brought  to  the  full  and  awful  realization  that  he 
was  a  dangerous  gunman  at  last.  Some  unseen  force 
within  him  whispered  the  astounding  information  that  he 
was  worse  than  a  nonentity  and  he  shuddered  at  the 
thought  of  being  a  menace  to  humanity. 

These  ruminations,  revolutionary  to  him,  swept  over 
his  whole  being  .when  for  the  first  time  in  his  life  he  was 
in  the  act  of  pulling  the  trigger  of  his  revolver  to  murder 
a  police  official  whose  life  he  sought  for  no  other  reason 
than  that  he  had  been  offered  a  price  of  two  hundred  dol- 
lars by  a  gang  leader  with  motives  unknown  to  him. 
"Kid"  Black  did  not — he  could  not — fire  that  fatal  shot. 
Instead  he  fell  in  a  heap  in  his  hiding  place  and  wept 
bitterly  for  the  first  time  in  his  life.  Indeed,  in  tears  he 
was  a  spectacle,  because  he  was  every  inch  a  thug,  in  both 
appearance  and  manner. 

Abandoned  in  infancy,  and  never  having  been  able 
to  determine  his  parentage,  this  human  derelict  had  been 
from  easiest  boyhood  among  the  legions  of  ruffians  of 

177 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

the  most  unwholesome  section  of  New  York's  East  Side. 
Until  he  reached  the  age  of  fourteen  years  he  lived  with 
a  more  or  less  kind-hearted  crook  by  the  name  of  Black, 
who  never  gave  him  any  other  name  than  "Kid."  How- 
ever, the  heartless  Mrs.  Black  finally  drove  the  lad  out 
in  the  streets,  and  he  was  kicked  and  cuffed  from  one  end 
of  the  East  Side  to  the  other.  No  wonder,  then,  his 
viciousness  gained  the  upper  hand  and  directed  him  into 
a  precarious  course ! 

But  on  the  night  of  his  initial  conscientious  impulse 
"Kid"  Black  held  no  malice  towards  any  one.  He  saw 
himself  as  his  own  handiwork.  He  recalled  having  flouted 
the  idea  of  going  to  work  to  earn  an  honorable  living. 
His  past  activities  as  a  burglar  and  footpad  came  back 
to  him  as  a  frightful  memory,  and  he  instinctively  asked 
himself  why  he  preferred  breaking  the  law  to  being  law- 
abiding.  His  mind  having  been  dormant  in  wanton  indo- 
lence, it  was  not  capable  of  much  reasoning,  and  no  noble 
thoughts  could  find  place  in  it.  Therefore  the  young  man's 
next  few  minutes  were  devoted  to  wondering  in  amaze- 
ment why  he  could  not  commit  murder  when  he  had  run 
the  gauntlet  of  criminal  practices  without  even  so  much 
as  pausing  to  reflect  that  he  was  doing  wrong.  He  had 
run  wild  with  impunity.  Now  he  was  about  ,to  set  him- 
self right  with  the  world  without  any  duress  other  than 

that  imposed  by  his  own  newborn  conscience.     But,  oh, 

• 

178 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

what  a  fight  he  confronted!  What  a  handicap  he  was 
obliged  to  overcome !  Uneducated,  uncouth,  and  absolute- 
ly friendless,  he  faced  a  cold  world. 

So  it  happened  on  that  memorable  night  that  a  sober- 
fe.ced,  half-dazed  young  hoodlum,  this  same  "Kid"  Black, 
found  himself  slinking  away  from  the  scene  of  his  contem- 
plated murder  truly  overwhelmed  by  his  own  mental  re- 
joicing over  escaping  with  unstained  hands.  He  sought 
temporary  solitude  in  the  recesses  of  Central  Park,  be- 
cause he  knew  he  could  not  have  one  moment's  peace  of 
mind  if  he  returned  to  his  squalid  apartment,  where  his 
landlady,  known  in  all  foul  resorts  as  Midgie,  awaited, 
his  return  with  the  expectation  that  he  would  have  enough 
money  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  night's  usual  orgy. 
She  knew  he  was  on  a  mission  which  would  net  two 
hundred  dollars,  although  she  was  not  aware  that  it 
entailed  murder.  Not  that  she  probably  would  care 
much,  but  uppermost  in  her  mind  was  the  anticipation 
of  two  hundred  dollars'  worth  of  hilarity.  She  was  a 
young  woman,  not  altogether  bad-looking,  except  for  the 
signs  of  dissipation  which  were  noticeable.  She  was  the 
widow  of  "Lefty  Mike,"  who  had  been  killed  in  a  gam- 
bling brawl,  and  ever  since  she  had  essayed  coquetting 
with  "Kid"  Black  without  success,  because  there  was  no 
romance  in  his  soul,  and  he  absolutely  abhorred  women — 
the  kind  he  had  known  since  earliest  realization. 

179 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

Once  seated  on  a  secluded  bench  in  Central  Park 
near  one  of  the  several  ponds,  the  worried  Black  lapsed 
into  meditation.  He  was  so  engrossed  in  his  own  mud- 
dled thoughts  that  he  did  not  display  the  slightest  precau- 
tion when  he  took  his  revolver  from  his  pocket  and  stud- 
ied it  leisurely.  It  did  not  require  a  very  prolonged  gaze 
at  that  weapon  to  provoke  a  shivering  which  rocked  his 
whole  body  perceptibly.  Then  suddenly  he  tossed  the 
firearm  into  the  pond,  as  if  extremely  anxious  to  get  it 
away  from  him  quickly. 

He  was  still  staring  vacantly  into  the  pond  when 
he  was  aroused  by  a  gentle  tapping  on  his  shoulder.  He 
arose  abruptly  to  find  himself  confronted  by  a  fashion- 
ably dressed  young  woman,  and  the  first  thing  about  her 
to  command  his  attention  was  her  benign  smile. 

"Did  you  finally  decide  not  to  kill  yourself,  too?" 
she  asked. 

"Yes,"  he  replied  promptly,  though  sullenly,  for  he 
knew  he  was  lying,  and  that  he  had  not  thought  of 
suicide,  but  he  was  too  adept  at  evasiveness  to  suddenly 
acquire  candor. 

"Then  that  makes  two  of  us  who  are  going  to  try- 
again,"  the  young  woman  continued.  "I'm  so  glad  to  have 
company  in  my  most  melancholy  moment." 

So  saying,  she  extended  her  hand  to  "Kid"  Black, 

180 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

who  was  so  confused  by  this  act  that  he  hesitated  long 
before  he  accepted  it. 

"It's  merely  to  acknowledge  introduction,  for  my 
name  is  Bertha  Grant,"  she  added  reassuringly,  where- 
upon he  shook  her  soft,  slender  hand  awkwardly  and  still 
with  a  scowl  on  his  face. 

"Now,  may  I  ask  your  name  ?"  she  asked. 

"Naw,  I  ain't  tellin'  me  name,  'cause  I'm  a-gonna 
change  it,"  was  his  gruff  answer. 

After  making  a  fruitless  effort  to  persuade  the  young 
man  to  exchange  confidences  with  her,  and,  apparently 
being  moved  by  close  sympathy  in  all  her  interest  in  him, 
Bertha  Grant  finally  gave  up  and,  after  presenting  her 
card,  she  left  him  to  his  sad  ruminations.  The  man 
merely  grunted  as  she  walked  away,  but  it  was  because 
his  soul  was  still  devoid  of  sentiment.  After  the  girl  had 
disappeared  from  his  view,  he  gazed  at  the  card  she  had 
handed  him  and  then  tossed  it  to  the  ground,  but  before 
he  left  the  spot  he,  for  some  inexplicable  reason,  picked  it 
up  again  and  deposited  it  in  his  pocket. 

It  was  long  after  midnight  when  "Kid"  Black  wan- 
dered aimlessly  down  a  select  section  of  Fifth  avenue. 
As  Fate  would  have  it,  he  walked  right  onto  the  scene 
of  a  street  robbery,  and  from  a  distance  of  only  a  few 
yards,  he  witnessed  the  exciting  struggle  which  followed 
the  intended  victim's  resistance  against  being  relieved  of 

181 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

his  valuables.  "Kid"  Black's  blood  was  chilled  upon 
recognizing  the  masked  footpad  as  his  pal,  "Mex"  Tello, 
who  simultaneously  recognized  him  and  called  for  his 
assistance  in  conquering  his  rebellious  prey. 

"Kid"  Black  fought  a  terrific  mental  battle  as  he 
stood  glued  to  the  position  he  had  taken  and,  finally, 
without  concluding  on  a  definite  plan  of  action,  he  im- 
pulsively leaped  to  the  clinched  gladiators.  Guided  en- 
tirely blindly,  he  forced  himself  between  the  men,  sepa- 
rating them,  much  to  the  surprise  of  both.  Then  with 
lightning  speed  he  struck  the  footpad  with  his  fist  on  the 
point  of  the  chin,  bowling  him  over  and  rendering  him 
unconscious.  With  equal  celerity  he  faced  the  intended 
victim  and  got  his  first  good  glimpse  of  the  man's  face, 
which  he  found  to  be  youthful,  manly  and  handsome 
He  gazed  into  that  face  for  a  moment  and  then  scrutinized 
the  man's  nobby  evening  clothes  from  head  to  foot.  He 
obviously  admired  the  stranger's  neat  appearance. 

Meanwhile  the  rescued  one  betrayed  his  perplexity 
He  was  surprised  over  being  assisted  by  one  he  felt  certain 
was  an  ally  of  his  assailant.  He  propounded  questions 
out  of  curiosity,  and  as  he  was  being  shoved  forcibly  up 
the  avenue  he  heard  this  reply  from  the  rough  "Kid* 
Black: 

"Never  youse  mind  who  I  am.  Beat  it!  I'll  'tend 
to  dat  guy." 

182 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

But  instead  of  satisfying  the  man,  this  remark  mys- 
tified him  the  more,  and  he  insisted  that  his  rescuer  call 
on  him  at  his  office  the  following  day,  when  he  desired 
to  give  him  a  suitable  reward  for  his  services.  As  Black 
shoved  him  on  his  way  he  slipped  him  his  card. 

After  the  man  had  gone,  Black  glanced  at  this  card 
and  discovered  he  had  helped  Philip  J.  Harrison,  a  well- 
known  lawyer. 

Meanwhile  "Mex"  Tello  was  not  slow  in  regaining 
consciousness,  and  his  first  impulse  was  to  reap  terrible 
revenge  on  Black,  but  when  the  latter  returned  to  the 
scene  of  the  encounter  he  .was  ready  with  a  ruse. 

"Can  it !  Can  it !"  he  warned  in  husky  tones.  "I've 
saved  youse  from  ten  years  in  Sing  Sing  wid  dat  one 
punch.  Dat  gink's  a  stool  pigeon,  and  there'll  be  a  dozen 
fly  cops  here  in  a  minute.  Chase  yerself  fast  and  watch 
yers  truly  make  me  getaway." 

With  these  words  said,  Black  dashed  down  the  ave- 
nue at  top  speed.  "Mex"  Tello  watched  him  in  bewilder- 
ment for  about  ten^seconds,  and  then  he  took  warning 
and  wildly  raced  away. 

But  even  then  "Kid"  Black  did  not  return  to  his 
place  of  abode,  for  as  soon  as  he  had  outdistanced  his 
pal,  he  boarded  a  passing  street  car,  riding  down  to  Forty- 
second  street  and  Broadway,  where  he  did  something 
very  unusual  for  him — purchased  a  newspaper.  He  sta- 

183 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

tioned  himself  near  the  entrance  of  a  large  office  building 
and  proceeded  to  peruse  it  quite  collectedly,  but  he  was 
'unable  to  interest  himself,  turning  from  the  sports  and 
racing  pages  finally  to  the  editorial  page,  where  for  the 
first  time  he  evinced  a  keen  interest  in  what  he  read.  In 
fact,  he  seemed  actually  startled.  Yet  his  manner  was 
that  of  excited  avidity.  Evidently  what  he  read  was  the 
biggest  surprise  of  his  life,  and  inevitably  it  was  to  have  a 
great  deal  to  do  with  his  future  career. 

Black  became  so  engrossed  in  what  he  read  that  he 
moved  over  under  a  brighter  street  light,  that  he  might 
see  better.  Here  was  the  ''lead"  of  the  special  article 
which  attracted  the  young  ruffian's  attention: 

AMERICA'S  FUTURE  DEPENDS  ON  MEX 

AND  WOMEN  WHO  \VILL  GIVE 

GOOD  NAMES  TO  LARGE 

AND  HARDY  FAMILIES 
This  is  the  day  more  than  ever  of  the  sanc- 
tity of  family  names,  which  shall  be  perpetuated 
and  hallowed  by  large  numbers  of  descendants. 
The  inroads  made  on  human  life  by  the  appalling 
European  war  are  such  as  to  make  inattention 
to  scientific  multiplying  positively  a  menace. 

Investigation  has  revealed  an  astounding  num- 
ber of  men  in  New  York  who  have  no  interest 
whatever  in  marriage  or  children. 

184 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

All  this  impressed  Black  so  strongly  that  he  cut  the 
article  out  of  the  paper  with  his  penknife  and,  after  care- 
fully folding  it,  deposited  it  in  his  pocket.  Almost  imme- 
diately thereafter  he  decided  on  a  plan  of  action,  and  he 
hastened  to  the  loathsome  apartment  he  called  home.  Here 
he  was  greeted  with  an  avalanche  of  vile  words  from  the 
lips  of  Midgie,  whose  patience  had  been  exhausted  by 
his  delay  in  returning.  Midgie  was  one  of  those  little 
women  of  the  nether  world  whose  dissipated  face  was 
counterbalanced  by  her  cuteness  of  stature  and  good  fig- 
ure. Even  the  tawdry,  sporty  clothes  she  wore  did  not 
hide  the  certain  amount  of  feminine  beauty  she  possessed. 
Her  hair  was  golden  and  fluffy — her  eyes  were  blue  and 
dancing,  but  beneath  them  the  flesh  was  puffed,  spoiling 
their  attractiveness.  But  Midgie  was  a  veritable  little 
wildcat  in  manner,  speech  and  action  when  her  temper 
was  aroused,  and  it  was  thoroughly  aroused  on  this 
occasion. 

"What  do  yer  think  I  am,  sittin'  here  like  a  rummy 
the  whole  night  waitin'  for  you?"  she  demanded  angrily 
as  Black  entered  the  narrow  hallway. 

"You  didn't  have  to  wait  for  me,"  he  replied  gruffly. 
"I've  paid  me  rent,  haven't  I?" 

"Yes,  but  didn't  you  promise  to  come  back  with  some 
dough  and  take  me  out  for  a  little  sportin'  at  Jake's  dive  ?" 

"Didn't  get  de  expected  coin  though." 

185 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

"Well,  then  why  didn't  you  let  me  know?  I  could-a 
gone  out  with  a  dozen  other  guys  if  I'd  a-known  this." 

"Anyhow  I'm  through  with  de  carousin'  stuff  for  de 
present,"  Black  announced  as  he  attempted  to  get  by  the 
pugnacious-appearing  landlady. 

"\Yhat!  You  through?"  and  then  she  laughed  with 
derisive  coarseness.  "\Yhat'er  you  gonna  do — join  church 
or  somethun?" 

"Xope.     Get  outer  me  way." 

"Don't  go  orderin'  me  'round,  and  don't  shove  me 
neither,"  the  irate  little  woman  came  back,  as  her  ire 
grew  furiously. 

"Aw,  shut  up,"  he  yelled  as  he  pushed  his  way  past 
her  roughly. 

Midgie  was  not  to  be  so  easily  cast  aside.  She  fol- 
lowed the  man  right  in  his  tracks,  berating  him  unmerci- 
fully every  step  of  the  way.  "Without  paying  any  heed 
to  her,  he  went  straightway  to  his  room.  She  followed 
him  in. 

"Say,  this  is  my  room — I  pay  de  rent  to  youse  for 
it,  and  I  never  invited  youse  in,"  he  said,  as  his  displeasure 
over  the  woman's  pestering  tactics  grew. 

"\es'n  it's  my  house,  and  I  can  put  undesirable  ten- 
ants out  in  a  jiffy  any  time  I  gets  ready.  See?" 

"Go-ahead  and  put  me  out,  but  you've  gotta  work 
fast  or  I'll  get  out  before  you  can  do  it,"  was  his  reply. 

186 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

"What'er  you  mean?" 

"I  mean  I'm  beatin'  it."  And  by  this  time  Black  was 
packing  his  few  belongings  in  an  old,  battered  suitcase. 

"What  for — just  'cause  I've  been  givin'  you  the 
devil?"  she  asked,  now  suddenly  puzzled. 

"Aw,  hell,  no ;  I  ain't  a-carin'  nothin'  'bout  what  you 
do  or  say,"  he  replied  in  marked  disgust. 

"Then  it's  some  dirty  trick  yer  after  pullin'  on  me, 
eh?"  she  yelled  fiercely. 

"Nope,  I've  got  to  follow  me  man  up  de  State  to  get 
dat  coin,"  he  lied,  coming  to  the  realization  of  the  need 
for  a  little  diplomacy. 

So  saying,  Black  yanked  off  his  coat  and  threw  it 
on  the  bed.  He  was  just  in  the  act  of  donning  another 
one  when  Midgie  impulsively  grabbed  the  discarded  gar- 
ment and,  with  brazen  officiousness,  started  to  search  the 
pockets.  The  first  article  she  extracted  was  Bertha  Grant's 
calling  card,  and  instantly  mad  jealousy  swept  the  last 
vestige  of  reason  from  her  depraved  mind. 

"So  yer  ditchin'  my  love,"  she  screamed,  as  she 
pounced  on  the  man  like  an  infuriated  tigress. 

"Your  love!  Who  ever  knowed  youse  loved  me?" 
he  demanded  as  he  roughly  shook  the  woman  loose. 

"Well,  I  ain't  never  bragged  about  it  right  out,  but 
I  do  love  you  and — and — no  upstart  of  another  woman  is 

187 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

a-goin'  to  get  you  without  a  damn  unpleasant  fight,"  she 
yelled. 

"A\v,  you  make  me  sick — there  ain't  gonna  be  no 
love  or  no  marryin'  for  mine  wid  youse  or  anybody  else," 
he  yelled  back  at  her  with  emphasis. 

Then  followed  a  scuffle  in  which  Black  merely  at- 
tempted to  defend  himself  and  to  eject  Midgie.  He  suc- 
ceeded finally,  but  she  retained  Bertha  Grant's  card.  This 
was  to  be  the  directing  key  to  the  campaign  of  revenge 
she  resolved  upon  peremptorily. 

After  finishing  his  packing,  Black  searched  through 
his  old  coat.  He  found  the  clipping  and  Harrison's  busi- 
ness card.  He  studied  these  for  a  moment  and  then  he 
suddenly  decided  he  must  have  Bertha  Grant's  card,  too. 
Grabbing  his  suitcase,  he  bolted  out  of  his  room  to  find 
Midgie.  But  before  he  had  time  to  find  her  he  bumped 
into  Max  Marx,  the  formidable  leader  of  the  Marx  gang, 
of  which  Black  was  a  member. 

"Well,  did  youse  croak  de  gink  ?"  Marx  demanded. 
"Not  yet — he  didn't  show  up  on  his- beat  yet,  but  I'm 
goin'  after  him  now,"  Black'  replied  as  he  felt  his  nerve 
fail  him  for  the  first  time  in  the  presence  of  this  danger- 
ous man. 

'Get  damn  busy,  an'  soon  as  I  read  'bout  it  in  de 
papers  I'll  come  through  wid  de  two  hundred  bucks," 
Marx  assured  Black.  Then,  shaking  his  finger  warningly, 

188 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

• 

he  added :  "But  don't  forget  I've  sent  another  bloke  after 
him,  too,  and  de  one  dat  gets  to  de  marked  man  first  is 
a-gonna  get  de  cush." 

After  succeeding  in  getting  away  from  Marx,  the 
now  thoroughly  excited  Black  prosecuted  a  house-wide 
search  for  Midgie,  but  he  could  not  locate  her,  and  finally 
he  left,  much  chagrined  over  the  loss  of  the  card  and  his 
inability  to  remember  the  address  it  bore. 


189 


THE    FIRST    OF   HIS    FAMILY 
CHAPTER  II. 


AT  ten  o'clock  the   following  morning  "Kid"  Black 
called  on  Phillip  J.  Harrison  at  his  handsomely 
appointed  omce. 

"If  youse  wants  ter  thank  me  for  de  little  favor  1 
done  youse  last  night  you  can  slip  me  fifty  bucks  as  a 
loan,"  Black  proposed  the  moment  he  faced  the  lawyer. 

"Gladly,  my  good  fellow,"  Harrison  agreed,  much 
impressed  by  the  directness  with  which  his  rough-appear- 
ing visitor  got  down  to  business. 

"But  tell  me  something  about  yourself,"  he  added, 
as  he  handed  over  a  crisp  $50  bill. 

"Dere  ain't  nothin'  to  tell  'bout  meself,  'cause  I  ain't 
nobody  yet,  but  I'm  a-gonna  try  to  be,"  Black  told  his 
new-found  friend,  with  his  characteristic  sullenness. 

"I'm  mighty  glad  to  hear  you  say  that,  and  please 
remember  I  stand  ready  to  help  you  in  your  battle  at  any 
time  so  long  as  you  stay  on  the  level." 

"Much  obliged,  but  I  ain't  expectin'  to  call  on  youse 
or  anybody  else  for  much  help — I'm  a-gonna  pull  meself 
outer  this  rut  meself  somehow." 

Thus  it  happened  that  "Kid"  Black  got  a  really  en- 
couraging send-off  from  Harrison,  who  was  genuinely 
sincere  in  his  desire  to  be  of  assistance  to  the  man. 

The  thug  went  straightway  from  Harrison's  office  to 

-     190 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  station.  He  was  bent  on  get- 
ting out  of  town  as  quickly  as  possible.  After  purchasing 
a  ticket  to  Kansas  City,  Missouri,  he  bought  a  newspaper. 
The  first  headline  to  cross  his  line  of  vision  made  his 
blood  run  cold.  It  read : 

POLICE  OFFICIAL  MURDERED  IN 
COLD  BLOOD. 

Perusal  of  the  news  story  revealed  that  the  victim 
was  the  very  man  he  had  spared  the  night  before.  "The 
other  guy"  Marx  mentioned  had  "got"  his  man. 

"Gee,  I  wish  my  train'd  hurry  an'  start,"  Black  mut- 
tered as  he  looked  up  from  his  paper  and  wiped  the  cold 
perspiration  from  his  brow. 

His  eagerness  to  get  away  from  the  scene  of  all  his 
sins  and  transgressions  became  so  pronounced  that  he 
paced  the  floor  most  nervously.  As  his  excitement 
'grew  he  became  unmindful  of  the  fact  that  his  conduct 
was  such  as  to  arouse  suspicion.  He  glanced  at  his  watch 
every  two  minutes,  and  he  clutched  at  his  paper  convul- 
sively. An  alert  detective  in  plain  clothes  discovered  him 
and  observed  him  closely.  He  was  sufficiently  impressed 
to  make  a  mental  note  of  every  physical  peculiarity  of  the 
man,  but  he  did  not  deem  his  conduct  such  as  to  warrant 
arrest  on  suspicion. 

"It's  just  another  mug   for  yours  truly,  Detective 

191 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

Rand,  to  remember,"  the  officer  told  himself. 

When  finally  "Kid"  Black  was  comfortably  settled 
in  a  seat  in  the  smoking  car  of  the  train  which  was  speed- 
ily carrying  him  away  from  all  the  memories  he  longed  to 
forget,  and  which  he  prayed  would  never  hark  back  to 
him,  he  was  really  happy  for  the  first  time  in  his  whole 
life.  He  felt  a  sense  of  security  in  the  going-away  mo- 
tion of  the  train,  despite  his  occasional  worrying  over 
the  murder  he  had  planned,  but  which  another  had  com- 
mitted. 

Even  as  he  rode  westward  the  irate  and  revengeful 
Midgie  was  invading  the  elaborate  apartment  of  Bertha 
Grant,  in  a  seclusive  part  of  Central  Park  West.  There 
in  that  abiding  place  of  opulent  refinement  was  being 
enacted  at  that  very  moment  an  extraordinary  battle  of 
wits  between  two  extremely  different  women.  High- 
minded,  though  clever,  Bertha  Grant  found  an  interesting 
adversary  in  vile  little  Mi'dgie.  She  feared  her  no  more 
than  she  would  a  mere  child. 

After  a  brief  word-battle  in  which  Midgie  excelled, 
the  two  women  found  a  common  ground  in  their  coincid- 
ing penchants  for  being  melancholy.  Bertha  eventually 
persuaded  her  wild  visitor  to  lay  aside  her  hostility. 

"I  assure  you  I  have  no  desire  of  estranging  you 
from  your  husband,"  Bertha  told  her  in  soothing,  confi- 
dence-inspiring tones. 

192 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

"Husband !  He  ain't  my  husband,  but  I've  been 
a-hopin'  he  would  be,"  Midgie  confided  boisterously. 

"Indeed!"  the  other  ejaculated.  "No  wonder  he 
contemplated  suicide  last  night,  then." 

"What'er  yer  mean,  an  insult?"  Midgie  expostulated 
with  renewed  wrath. 

However,  Bertha  promptly  tamed  her  down  again  by 
relating  her  experiences  of  the  night  before  in  Central 
Park. 

"I  had  fully  made  up  my  mind  to  end  my  own  life," 
she  said  in  conclusion  of  her  narrative. 

"What!  You  thinkin'  'bout  croakin'  yerself  with  all 
this  wealth  at  yer  command?"  the  dubious  Midgie  ex- 
claimed. 

"What  is  all  this  without  the  man  I  love — the  man 
who  has  just  jilted  me  for  another  woman?"  Bertha 
asked  blandly. 

"Then,  like  us  blokes  in  the  underworld,  you  of  the 
four  hundred  gets  the  blues  once  in  a  while,  too,"  the 
other  observed. 

"Yes,  and  if  you  will  help  me  in  my  little  scheme  to 
win  back  the  man  I  love,  I'll  help  you  hold  the  man  you 
love,"  Bertha  promptly  proposed. 

"Sure,  Mike;  but  how'n  the  devil  can  I  help  you 
any?" 

"Leave  that  to  me,  but  to  start  with,  you  must  come 

193 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

and  live  with  me  immediately,"  Bertha  announced. 

"Say,  that's  great — with  me  livin'  here  with  you  like 
a  swell,  I'll  make  'Kid'  Black  sit  up  and  take  notice  like 
a  breeze,"  Midgie  boasted.  "Why,  he'll  be  beggin'  me  to 
marry  him." 

Thus  it  came  about  that  these  two  women,  so  dia- 
metrically opposite  to  each  other  in  everything  except 
melancholia,  joined  hands  for  mutual  benefits,  but  with 
the  gullible  Midgie  totally  unaware  of  just  what  was 
expected  of  her  in  payment  for  the  luxury  she  was  to 
enjoy.  She  became  Bertha  Grant's  maid  ostensibly,  but 
in  reality  she  was  the  young  society  girl's  pupil,  for  from 
the  inception  many  hours  of  each  day  were  devoted  to 
assiduous  study  of  etiquette  and  grammar,  in  which  les- 
sons Bertha  acted  as  teacher. 

It  did  not  require  much  time  for  Midgie  to  become 
deeply  mystified  over  the  dogged  persistence  with  which 
Bertha  kept  her  "in  school."  Very  early  in  the  game  she 
ventured  to  ask  why  there  was  so  much  hurry  about  get- 
ting smart. 

"Because  you  must  at  least  appear  to  be  a  lady  within 
two  weeks  or  I  am  lost  forever,"  was  the  only  reply  she 
got. 

"Gee,  it's  some  job  when  you  figure  that  it  took  me 
all  me  life  to  get  like  I  am  now,"  Midgie  commented  as 
she  became  the  more  puzzled. 

194 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 
CHAPTER  III. 


ONE  week  later  "Kid"  Black  arrived  at  Excelsior 
Springs,  Missouri,  a  health  and  pleasure  resort 
thirty  miles  north  of  Kansas  City.  His  first  notable  act 
was  to  register  at  a  small  but  respectable  hotel  under  the 
name  of  Will  B.  White. 

"And  I  mean  to  be  what  me  new  name  says,"  he  told 
himself  as  he  contemplated  the  signature. 

Under  his  new  name  the  young  East  Sider  invested 
his  few  remaining  dollars  in  a  small  peanut  stand  located 
near  one  of  the  springs,  and  he  started  in  earnest  to  make 
an  honest  living  for  the  first  time.  He  had  not  adjusted 
himself  to  his  new  environments  when  he  met  Walter 
Frank,  owner  of  a  dramatic  stock  company,  playing  in  an 
adjacent  airdome.  In  fact,  Frank  was  his  first  customer, 
and  as  he  munched  his  peanuts  the  rotund  showman  chat- 
ted genially. 

"You  won't  get  very  lonesome  here,  'cause  it's  a 
lively  burg,"  Frank  assured  the  novice  peanut  vender. 
"If  you  care  to  come  to  the  show  tonight  I'll  gladly  give 
you  a  pass.  It's  a  new  bill,  and  I've  got  to  pad  the  house 
anyhow." 

"Sure  I'll  come  and  give  yer  troupe  the  once-over," 
White  agreed  rather  gratefully. 

"Fine,"  the  showman  replied,  and  then  proceeded 

195 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

to  scribble  on  a  pass.    "And  don't  forget  to  give  the  show 
the  hand,"  he  added,  as  he  handed  over  the  ticket. 

"\Yell,  all  I  got  to  say  is,  if  yer  show  suits  me  I'll 
clap  me  hands  and  do  a  little  whistling  besides,"  the  young 
man  promised. 

That  night  one  of  the  first  to  arrive  in  the  airdome 
was  "Kid"  Black,  alias  Will  B.  White.  He  was  in  a 
sullen  mood,  and  he  was  inclined  to  ruminate  sadly.  A 
feeling  of  bitterness  grappled  in  his  heart  with  a  morbid- 
ness inspired  by  his  growing  realization  of  being  an  out- 
cast with  uncouth  proclivities.  He  had  become  disgusted 
with  the  sweater  he  wore.  Yet  he  had  seldom  worn  a 
shirt  and  collar.  He  crushed  his  checkered  cap  rather 
viciously  as  he  awaited  the  rise  of  the  curtain.  Suddenly 
he  found  that  he  hated  his  cap. 

"Nobody  else  wears  'em  at  all,  and  still  it's  the  only 
kind  of  skypiece  I  ever  owned,"  he  mumbled  as  he  gritted 
his  teeth  vehemently. 

Thus  it  happened  that  when  the  show  finally  began 
this  one  witness  was  far  too  glum  to  be  susceptible  to 
enjoyment,  and  he  did  not  clap  his  hands  once,  nor  did 
he  whistle  any  approval.  On  the  contrary,  he  lapsed  into 
a  veritable  lethargy  and  remained  rigidly  inert  until  a 
petite  and  attractive,  golden-haired  ingenue  made  her  en- 
trance onto  the  scene,  disseminating  vivacity  in  generous 
quantities. 

196 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

"Hully  gee!  a  chicken — now  the  show'll  begin," 
Black  mumbled  audibly,  attracting  the  attention  of  several 
persons  sitting  near  him. 

He  watched  this  little  actress  perform  with  growing 
interest,  and  when  between  the  acts  she  offered  a  fairly 
diverting  singing  specialty,  he  got  the  impulse  to  get 
acquainted  with  her.  He  consulted  his  program,  and 
learned  that  her  name  was  Peggy  Jules. 

"Me  for  Peggy  at  de  stage  door,"  was  her  new  ad- 
mirer's threat  the  moment  he  determined  her  name,  and 
he  lost  little  time  in  finding  Walter  Frank. 

"De  show's  all  right,  and  yer  kiddo  Peggy  is  great," 
the  "Kid"  declared  enthusiastically. 

"Thanks,  friend.  Go  out  and  boost  it  to  all  your 
friends,"  the  showman  replied. 

"Ain't  got  no  friends,  pal,  and  dat's  why  I  want  to 
meet  yer  Peggy,  if  she's  not  married." 

"She's  not  married,  and  I  don't  want  her  to  launch 
into  any  matrimonial  escapades  either,"  Frank  announced, 
less  affably  than  was  his  habit. 

"Aw,  have  a  heart.  Anyhow  I  don't  want  to  marry 
her.  I  just  want  to  meet  her  to  find  out  what  a  nice  girl 
acts  like." 

"Well,  let  me  tell  you  something,  young  fellow.  She's 
only  eighteen  years  old,  but  don't  think  she's  not  wise 
enough  to  know  how  not  to  act  nice  when  it's  necessary," 

197 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

Frank  corrected. 

"I  ain't  a-gonna  make  any  row  necessary — I'll  treat 
her  on  de  level,"  the  "Kid"  promised  anxiously. 

"You  bet  you  will,  and  she  won't  need  no  one  to  help 
her  sit  you  down,  believe  me.  You've  got  Peggy  sized 
up  wrong." 

"Oh,  I  don't  know,"  the  young  tough  ventured. 
"Just  to  show  you  I'll  take  you  back  and  introduce 
you  to  her." 

Forthwith  the  manager  made  good  his  word. 

"Here,  Peggy,  you  little  devil,  meet  a  friend  of  mine/5 
he  yelled,  staying  the  girl  in  a  hasty  retreat  across  the 
stage  towards  her  dressing  room. 

"All  right,  old  dear,  who  is  he  and  what  is  he  ?"  she 
asked  as  she  danced  up  to  her  employer. 

"He's  the  peanut  guy,  and " 

"The  peanut  guy !  And  he  wants  to  met  a  regular 
actress  ?" 

"Sure,  why  not?"  Frank  asked,  thoroughly  amused. 

"You  know  me,  Al— I've  got  a  champagne  appetite 
and  all." 

"Dat  don't  scare  yours  truly— I'll  buy,"  the  "Kid" 
interposed. 

"Ah,  a  regular  fellow,"  Peggy  observed  laughingly. 
"I'm  glad  to  meet  you,"  she  added,  as  she  extended  her 
hand. 

198 


"I'm  with  you,  kid,"  he  acknowledged  as  he  accepted 
her  hand. 

"What's  the  name,  please  ?"  she  asked  demurely. 

"Will  B.  White." 

"Will  Be  White !    What's  the  color  now  ?" 

"Black." 

"Nigger?" 

"Nigger!"  ejaculated  Frank,  squirming  comically  as 
he  began  to  believe  that  he  had  instituted  scandalous  pro- 
ceedings in  his  troupe. 

"Aw,  quit  yer  kiddin',  I'm  as  white  as  me  name, 
and  I'm  a-gonna  be  a  lot  whiter  before  I  get  through 
straightenin'  up,"  the  "Kid"  put  in  bravely. 

The  impulsive  earnestness  with  which  he  spoke  in- 
terested Peggy  and  robbed  her  of  most  of  her  jauntiness. 
She  suddenly  discovered  that  with  all  his  crudeness  this 
stranger  was  likeable.  He  was  sturdy  after  a  fashion,  and 
his  serious  mien  betrayed  a  great  determination  which  was 
guiding  him  to  heights  above  mere  passing  follies.  A 
ramollescent  tingling  swept  through  Peggy's  heart  as  she 
momentarily  studied  the  "Kid."  True,  he  was  obviously 
a.  ruffian,  but  she  was  not  many  notches  above  that  class, 
because  her  life  had  been  spent  among  rough  people,  and 
she  had  acquired  most  of  their  ways. 

"Say,  you're  not  a  bad  scout  at  that,  and  so  far  I  like 
you.  Let's  go  have  a  drink,"  she  said. 

199 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

"Of  spring  water,"  Frank  ordered. 

"Water ! — on  the  side  only — we're  going  to  have  some 
booze,"  she  announced  firmly. 

"Better  cut  that  stuff,  Peggy,"  the  old  man  urged. 
"It  will  bring  you  more  sorrow  than  joy." 

"Oh,  but  I  like  it,  and  I  must  have  what  I  like,"  she 
insisted. 

"Maybe  /  won't  want  you  to  booze,"  Black  ventured. 

"If  you  won't  it'll  be  a  sure  sign  that  you  want  it 
all  for  yourself,"  she  laughed  tauntingly. 

"Well,  we'll  fight  dat  out  later,"  he  replied,  as  he 
winked  at  Frank. 

"You'll  do  a  lot  of  fighting  out  later  if  you  stick 
around  Peggy,"  the  showman  warned  as  a  mischievous 
twinkle  illuminated  his  eyes. 

"Well,"  Black  replied,  as  he  thought  of  high-tempered 
Midgie,  "I  can't  say  that  I  ain't  used  to  it." 

But  although  Peggy  and  Black  were  together  for  an 
hour  that  night  they  did  not  quarrel  once.  However,  they 
did  both  drink  several  cocktails,  and  each  betrayed  the 
effects  of  a  slight  intoxication. 

"Gee,  this  is  what  I  call  a  good  time — a  little  booze 
and  a  nifty  little  tipsy  feeling,"  remarked  the  girl  rap- 
turously as  the  time  flitted  by  swiftly. 

"It's  a  little  high-class  for  me,  but  yer  a  better  girl 

200 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

than's  ever  been  out  with  me  before,"  the  young  man 
confessed. 

"And  they  call  me  wild  and  woolly,"  she  laughed. 

"But  you're  not  to  me — you're  what  I  call  a  damn 
fine  lady." 

"Gracious,  how  you  flatter  me — er — I  can't  remem- 
ber your  name." 

"Will  B.  White,  and  I  will  be  by  you  if  you'll  treat 
me  nice  like  this  all  the  time,"  he  replied  seriously. 

Thus  it  came  about  that  "Kid"  Black,  who  was  now 
so  determined  to  be  White  in  name  and  conduct,  fell  in 
love  with  the  little  actress  of  the  barn-storming  company, 
and  by  the  same  process  she  became  intensely  interested 
in  him.  It  was  because  they  occupied  about  the  same 
social  strata,  and  both  had  vast  improvements  to  make 
before  they  could  hope  to  mingle  with  the  elite.  Simulta- 
neously Walter  Frank  and  the  "Kid"  quickly  became 
close  friends,  and  within  two  weeks  after  their  first  meet- 
ing they  jointly  rented  a  small  bachelor  apartment.  Pros- 
perity blessed  both  from  the  inception  of  their  strong, 
mutual  friendship,  and  naturally  this  combination  of  cir- 
cumstances created  plenty  of  opportunities  for  Black  to 
get  better  acquainted  with  Peggy,  who  had  his  whole- 
souled  respect. 

But  she  did  not  discourage  him  in  his  penchant  for 
imbibing  too  freely  of  liquor.  She  joined  him  in  it  with 

201 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

avidity.  Inevitably  there  had  to  come  an  evening  when 
fie  drank  too  much,  and  his  nature  automatically  reverted 
back  to  its  old  wont.  This  manifested  itself  in  his  sub- 
sequent attempt  to  roughly  embrace  the  girl  and  to  angrily 
resist  her  justified  struggling.  Then  came  a  verbal  deto- 
nation. 

"Say,  where  do  you  get  that  stuff?"  she  demanded, 
"Surely  you  don't  want  to  be  regarded  as  a  ruffian  all 
your  life  by  everybody,  including  near-ruffians  like  my- 
self, do  you?  Answer  me,  do  you?" 

These  words  straightened  Black  up  surprisingly,  and 
he  promptly  resumed  the  restrained,  more  dignified  man- 
ner of  White.  Peggy's  rebuff  accomplished  more  than 
this :  it  struck  a  vital  spot  in  the  man's  heart  by  bringing 
to  him  the  realization  that  it  was  for  that  reason  he  had 
fled  from  New  York — to  cease  being  what  he  had  always 
been  and  to  start  all  over  again.  And  here  it  seemed  to 
him  as  he  gazed  intently  upon  Peggy's  pretty  though 
resolutely  grim  face,  was  a  golden  opportunity. 

"You've  got  de  correct  dope,  kiddo,"  he  replied  finally 
"Help  me  get  de  crooks  out  of  me  crooked  self  and  it'll  be 
me  point  to  see  dat  you  don't  regret  it." 

"Atta  boy,"  she  congratulated  cheerfully.  "I'm  with 
you  as  long  as  you're  halfway  decent,  and  I'm  going  tc 
remember  these  words  you  speak  tonight." 

Thus  started  a  closer  friendship  rather  auspiciously 
202 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

There  was  at  least  understanding,  although  neither  the 
man  nor  the  woman  contemplated  any  definite  plans.  One 
important  upshot  of  the  companionship  was  that  "Kid' 
Black  promptly  eliminated  intemperance  from  his  list  of 
faults,  and  his  success  in  accomplishing  this  tended  to 
encourage  him  greatly.  The  new  feeling  of  respect  for 
woman  which  Peggy  had  inspired  in  him  also  augmented 
his  pleasure  in  life.  For  three  weeks  he  escorted  the  little 
actress  to  her  hotel  every  night,  and  not  once  did  he  betray 
the  slightest  sign  of  undue  familiarity.  Finally,  however 
he  weakened  just  a  little.  There  was  too  much  temptation 
in  her  pretty,  red  lips. 

"Listen,  Peggy,"  he  said  on  that  night,  "you  know 
since  I've  quit  drinking  liquor  and  gone  in  for  the  mineral 
water  stuff  I've  got  to  have  some  sort  of  a  substitute 
stimulant.  What  about  one  kiss  a  night?" 

"All  right,"  she  agreed  quickly,  "but  it  must  be 
strictly  platonic." 

"I'll  gamble  with  you  on  that  platonic,  whatever  it 
means,"  was  his  reply,  as  he  grabbed  her  gently  and  gave 
her  anything  but  a  platonic  kiss. 

When  she  reprimanded  him  for  the  tight  embrace 
which  accompanied  his  kiss,  he  appealed  to  her  meekly. 

"I  love  you,  kid;  dat's  why  I  did  it,  but  don't  let  it 
worry  you  until  you  see  how  I  come  out." 

Peggy  was  not  displeased  by  this  confession,  but  she 

203 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

assumed  the  mysterious  attitude  of  one  desirous  of  testing 
the  mettle  of  one  with  whom  she  was  seriously  consider- 
ing before  casting  her  lot  finally.  'Twas  on  this  basis  that 
the  rather  curious  romance  of  this  couple  began,  and  in 
the  very  nature  of  things  it  was  obviously  inevitable  that 
many  strange  things  would  happen  in  the  course  of  events 
"Kid"  Black,  alias  \Yill  B.  White,  was  so  much  a  crude 
product  of  adverse  circumstances,  and  Peggy  Jules  pos- 
sessed a  character  composed  of  such  widely  different 
qualities — partly  good,  partly  bad,  and  partly  indifferent— 
that  just  how  far  she  would  be  able  to  go  in  restoring  the 
latent  probity  of  such  a  lifelong  miscreant  was  a  matter 
for  grave  doubting.  The  fact  that  the  man  really  loved 
the  girl  as  far  as  his  capabilities  would  permit,  and  that 
she  was  not  seeking  to  avoid  reciprocity  seemed  to  presage 
either  a  woeful  blunder  or  a  happy  fruition.  However, 
neither  worried  over  what  the  future  might  bring. 


204 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

CHAPTER  IV. 

ABOUT  this  time  sensation  broke  loose  in  New  York 
City  as  a  result  of  investigations  of  the  murder  of 
the  police  official.  "Baldy"  Ruff,  the  real  murderer,  had 
summoned  gall  enough  to  turn  State's  evidence  and  to 
inform  the  authorities  that  "Kid"  Black  had  committed 
the  murder  for  the  price  of  $200  at  the  behest  of  Max 
Marx,  the  gang  leader.  Ruff  claimed  to  have  been  an 
eye-witness  to  the  tragedy,  and  he  insisted  that  he  person 
ally  had  attempted  to  prevent  the  foul  deed,  adroitly  ad- 
vancing as  his  reason  a  fear  of  such  business,  breaking 
up  a  gang  out  of  which  he  was  making  much  money  with- 
out killing  people. 

This  testimony  led  to  the  arrest  of  Marx,  who 
promptly  shielded  himself  by  protesting  that  Black  had 
been  actuated  by  a  personal  grudge  in  slaying  the  official 

"I  had  nothin'  to  do  wid  de  dirty  work,  'cept  to  tell 
Black  he  was  a  fool  for  threatenin'  de  poor  guy,"  Marx 
declared,  feigning  great  aversion  for  bloodshed. 

"Kid"  Black's  disappearance  was  regarded  as  strong 
evidence  against  him,  especially  in  view  of  his  all-around 
criminal  record,  which  was  so  well  known  to  the  police 
The  district  attorney  was  inclined  to  believe  the  "corrobo 
rated"  story  of  "Baldy"  Ruff  in  its  entirety,  and  conse- 
quently he  set  in  motion  all  of  his  machinery  to  accom 
plish  the  apprehension  of  the  missing  thug. 

205 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

Among  all  the  countless  thousands  of  people  who 
read  these  legal  proceedings  there  was  one  far  more  in- 
terested than  all  others.  This  one  was  Midgie,  now  a 
maid  in  Bertha  Grant's  apartment.  The  ominous  develop 
ments  brought  consternation  into  this  curious  little 
woman's  heart.  Her  all-controlling  impulse  was  to  do 
everything  in  her  power  to  protect  "Kid"  Black,  for  whom 
she  entertained  a  love  after  the  fashion  of  her  kind. 

Under  Bertha's  quite  efficient  tutelage  she  was  rapidl} 
acquiring  practical  education,  and  a  knowledge  of  etti- 
quette.     She  had  displayed  reassuring  aptitude  from  the 
inception,  bidding  fair  to  come  out  of  the  rough  into  a 
state  of  passable  refinement  in  record  time.     She  was 
inherently  shrewd  and  possessed  the  feminine  instinct  of 
intuition  to  a  marked  degree,  but,  after  all  these  days,  she 
was  still  at  a  loss  to  understand  Bertha's  motive  in  retain- 
ing her  in  so  much  luxurious  comfort.    She  realized  that 
she  was  more  of  a  pupil  than  she  was  a  servant.     She 
often  wondered  why  Bertha  seemed  to  be  in  such  a  hurry 
to  improve  her  manners.    Her  benefactress  devoted  two- 
thirds  of  her  wakeful  hours  to  instructing  her  protege  in 
the  rudiments  of  ladylike  deportment.  Nor  did  she  neglect 
to  teach  her  grammar,  specializing  in  how  to  talk  properly. 
She  was  always  made  to  understand  that  she  was  to 
be  cared  for  handsomely,  and  that  she  was  to  be  assisted 
m  her  troubles  by  way  of  reciprocity  for  helping  Bertha 

206 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

in  her  affairs — affairs  concerning  which  Midgie  had  no 
inkling  of  an  idea.  Invariably  Bertha  was  secretive,  and 
when  dwelling  on  subjects  pertaining  to  herself  she  was 
most  cautious,  making  sure  to  not  even  intimate  the  nature 
of  her  plans.  Midgie  long  since  decided  Bertha  had  lost 
all  interest  in  love,  and  she  noted  with  repressed  curiosity 
the  woman's  devotion  to  the  perusal  of  law  books.  She 
was  amazed  at  the  seemingly  unlimited  supply  of  money 
her  hostess  had  at  her  command,  and  she  was  perplexed 
over  how  infrequently  she  went  out  to  enjoy  the  gaiety 
money  will  buy. 

After  reading  with  alarm  the  announcement  of  the 
district  attorney's  determination  to  cause  the  capture  of 
Black,  the  distracted  Midgie  ventured  into  Bertha's  bou- 
doir, where  she  found  her  lying  down,  weeping  softly. 

''  'Scuse  me,  but  it  seems  to  me  we're  both  in  serious 
trouble,  and  neither  one  ain't — 

''Not  ain't,  Midgie — isn't  is  better,"  Bertha  inter- 
rupted. 

"Well,  neither  one  of  us  isn't  helping  the  other  one 
bit  as  we  agreed." 

Forthwith  Bertha  leaped  to  her  feet,  and  after  gazing 
steadfastly  at  Midgie  for  a  moment,  a  wan  smile  spread 
over  her  face. 

"You're  making  fine  headway,  Midgie,  and  in  another 
month  I'll  have  you  so  well  trained  that  you  could  pass 

207 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

as  a  lady  anywhere,"  she  said.  "Then  you  can  help  me, 
because  that  will  be  still  a  month  prior  to  my  sweetheart's 
wedding  day." 

Thereupon  she  loaded  Midgie  down  with  books,  and 
ordered  her  to  get  busy  with  her  studies. 

"But,  ma'am,  I  wanted  to  say  that  I  can  be  helped  in 
my  troubles  now"  Midgie  persisted. 

"However,  my  dear,  if  your  lover  turns  out  to  be 
guilty  of  murder,  you  won't  want  to  help  him,  and,  any- 
way, you  can  only  wait  until  he  is  found,"  was  the  rather 
discouraging  reply  she  got. 

Although  far  from  being  satisfied,  Midgie  went  to 
her  own  room,  and  settled  down  to  assiduous  study  of 
her  books.  She  manifested  an  insatiable  hunger  for 
knowledge. 

"There's  no  use  talkin',  I've  got  to  get  smart  mighty 
quick  if  I  am  goin'  to  be  any  good  at  fightin'  them  lawyers 
for  the  Kid,"  she  told  herself  as  she  plunged  into  the  work 
of  digesting  the  rules  of  proper  speech. 


208 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

CHAPTER  V. 

MEANWHILE  "Kid"  Black,  alias  Will  B.  White, 
was  enjoying  himself  in  Excelsior  Springs.  He 
had  not  yet  made  it  one  of  his  habits  to  read  the  news- 
papers regularly,  and  therefore  he  was  blissfully  ignorant 
of  the  ado  his  absence  was  causing  in  New  York.  Any- 
way he  had  become  engrossed  in  a  course  of  study  Peggy 
Jules  was  giving  him.  This  course  consisted  mainly  of 
reading  and  writing  and  the  technique  of  play  manu- 
scripts, Peggy  having  decided  to  make  an  actor  out  of  the 
man.  He  was  not  exceedingly  anxious  to  act,  but  he  was 
genuinely  grateful  for  the  opportunity  of  improving  his 
education. 

"Bone-headedness  has  been  at  de  bottom  of  all  me 
troubles,  kid,  and  now  it's  de  knowin'  of  this  dat  makes 
me  tickled  to  death  to  learn  from  youse  de  tings  a  gentle- 
man should  know,"  he  told  her. 

"Well,  I'm  being  strictly  on  the  square  with  you — 
you're  not  going  to  set  the  world  on  fire,  even  though  I 
teach  you  everything  I  know,  because  I  know  just  about 
enough  to  come  in  out  of  the  rain,  and  that's  all,"  she 
replied  good-naturedly. 

"You  can  talk  dat  way  all  you  want  to,  but  just  de 
same  you're  de  smartest  gal  I  ever  knew — 

"Gee,"  she  interrupted,  "they  sure  must  be  awfully 
dumb  in  New  York." 

209 


"Dumb!  Damn  dumb!"  he  affirmed,  with  some 
vehemence,  and  then  he  added  in  disgust:  "Say,  I  know 
a  gal  there  who  has  been  unconscious  all  her  life." 

"Unconscious?  Was  she  hit  on  the  head  by  some- 
thing?" Peggy  inquired  in  surprise. 

"No;  but  her  head  was  missed  when  they  passed 
around  de  brains,  just  like  mine  was,"  he  declared. 

"Did  you  know  this  poor  girl  very  well?" 

"Did  I  know  her  well!    She  was  in  love  wid  me." 

"What's  her  name?"  Peggy  demanded  with  a  re- 
newed interest  which  strongly  resembled  jealousy. 

"Midgie." 

"Midgie  what?" 

"Lord  only  knows — she  don't." 

"Some  society  dame  who  could  get  by  with  half  name 
and  half-dressed,  I  presume." 

"Say,  Peggy,  how  can  any  one  off  in  de  head  know 
any  society  stuff?" 

"Well,  what  I  want  to  know,  Will  White,  is,  did  you 
ever  love  her?" 

"Never  in  me  life.  Why  should  I?  What  did  she 
ever  do  for  me  'cept  spend  me  dough  for  booze  and  fuss 
at  me  when  I  talked  about  straightenin'  up  ?" 

"And  do  you  consider  me  a  better  girl?" 

"Do  I  ?  Say,  you're  a  queen  and  she's  a  rowdy.  Why, 
you're  a  lady.  I — I — love  you,  kid." 

210 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

"We  won't  discuss  the  politics  of  the  case  now,"  she 
ordered.  "The  thing  I've  got  to  do  now  is  to  cut  out  my 
wild  ways  and  really  live  up  to  the  reputation  you're 
forcing  on  me." 

And  thus  it  came  about  that  Peggy  did  some  studying 
on  her  own  account,  while  she  served  as  teacher  to  "Kid" 
Black. 

A  whole  month  passed  by  as  if  by  rnagie,  and  by  this 
time  Peggy  had  become  a  great  favorite  among  the  fre- 
quenters of  the  spa  who  whiled  their  leisure  evening 
moments  away  at  the  airdome  watching  Walter  Frank's 
stock  company  present  melodramas  of  the  old  school. 
Black  noted  Peggy's  popularity  among  young  men  with 
growing  apprehension.  He  frequently  overheard  dandies 
plan  to  meet  and  win  her,  and  he  was  annoyed  by  the 
penchant  of  several  of  these  admirers  for  sending  her 
flowers  and  boxes  of  candy.  He  feared  the  mental  supe- 
riority of  all  his  fellows.  Yet  he  was  making  encouraging 
progress  in  polishing  up,  and  his  personal  appearance  was 
no  longer  that  of  an  East  Side  thug,  for  he  wore  natty 
clothes  of  the  latest  style. 

One  evening  after  the  show  he,  as  usual,  escorted 
Peggy  to  her  hotel  after  she  had  rejected  at  least  a  half 
dozen  invitations  from  other  admirers.  Despite  Peggy's 
elusive  cuteness  and  her  proclivity  for  laughing  gaily  at 
his  attempts  at  love-making,  he  persevered,  because  he 

211 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

felt  a  deep,  irresistible  necessity  for  hastening  his  suit. 
He  wanted  this  girl  for  his  own,  to  honor  and  respect, 
and  he  did  not  want  to  run  any  chances  of  losing  her. 
Innately  he  reasoned  that  the  only  way  he  could  safeguard 
his  future  happiness  was  to  remove  the  girl  he  loved  from 
Cupid's  open  market. 

"Listen,  Peggy,  I've  got  no  known  relatives,  and  so 
far  as  any  one  knows  I'm  the  first  of  my  family,  and  I 
want  to  do  what  this  article  says  every  man  like  me  should 
do,"  he  told  the  girl,  as  he  handed  her  the  clipping  he  had 
cut  out  of  his  paper  on  that  unforgotten  night  in  New 
York. 

Peggy  read  the  article  with  wide-eyed  interest,  and 
all  the  while  she  blushed.  To  hide  her  embarrassment  she 
essayed  laughing  tantalizingly. 

"Well,  I'll  see  what  I  can  do  towards  finding  you  a 
good  wife,"  she  finally  promised  him  teasingly. 

They  had  just  reached  an  inviting  rustic  bench  in  a 
vine-covered  bower  beside  the  hotel.  The  earnest  young 
man  promptly  fell  to  his  knees,  and  begged  the  girl  to  be 
his.  Tears  streamed  down  his  clean-shaven  face  as  he 
implored.  This  touched  her  heart,  and  she  impulsively 
leaned  over  to  plant  a  kiss  of  compassion  on  his  forehead. 
Thereafter  her  manner  was  more  encouraging.  Her 
frivolous  merriment  succumbed  to  serious  thoughtfulness. 
Here  was  a  frank  young  man  who  earnestly  aspired  to 

212 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

amount  to  something  worth  while,  and  the  girl  knew  that 
deep  in  her  heart  was  a  similar  ambition  for  herself. 

"Do  you  know  I'm  beginning  to  think  you're  the 
finest  fellow  in  all  the  wide,  wide  world,"  Peggy  whis- 
pered in  Black's  ear. 

"No ;  I'm  nothing  like  that,  but  I  am  to  be  if — " 

"If  I'll  say  yes—" 

"Yes." 

"And  you've  gone  and  said  it  for  me  ?" 

"Oh,  kid,  you've  made  me  happy,"  gleefully  ex- 
claimed the  man  as  he  arose  to  his  feet  and  embraced  the 
girl  of  all  girls  to  him. 

"And  somehow  I  feel  immensely  happy  myself,"  she 
admitted.  "Do  you  know,  I  think  it's  going  to  be  great 
fun  getting  to  be  somebody  and — and — I  do  want  to  see 
you  become  a  successful  actor — 

"No,  Peggy,  not  yours  truly,"  he  interrupted.  "I've 
got  my  head  set  on  being  a  lawyer." 

"Good  [  Then  you'll  be  at  a  better  kind  of  a  bar 
for  the  rest  of  your  life,"  Peggy  replied  enthusiastically. 
"Anyway,  I  can  be  the  'actor'  member  of  the  family." 

"No,  all  you're  going  to  be  is  my  little  wife  and  pal," 
he  announced  with  gentle  decisiveness. 

"Well,  I  guess,  come  to  think  of  it,  that'll  be  enough," 
she  agreed. 

213 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

Then  followed  a  truly  fond  embrace  and  a  veritable 
shower  of  kisses.  'Twas  indeed  the  happiest  night  of 
"Kid"  Black's  turbulent  life. 


214 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  very  next  night  Bertha  Grant  in  New  York 
"played"  the  rejuvenated  Midgie  as  her  trump  card 
in  her  game  to  upset  the  wedding  plans  of  the  man  she 
loved — Philip  J.  Harrison,  who  "Kid"  Black  had  saved 
from  being  robbed.  Through  her  influence  with  certain 
prominent  newspaper  men,  Bertha  had  caused  to  be 
printed  an  announcement  concerning  the  arrival  in  New 
York  of  Princess  Heloise,  who  had  come  to  arrange 
finances  which  would  enable  her  to  gain  the  throne  of  a 
certain  small  island  kingdom.  Princess  Heloise  was  de- 
scribed as  being  "ravishingly  beautiful,"  and  it  was  inci- 
dentally mentioned  that  she  had  remained  free  from 
matrimonial  entanglements  thus  far.  There  was  such  an 
air  of  mystery  surrounding  Princess  Heloise  and  her  mag- 
netic charms  were  dwelt  upon  at  such  great  length  that 
she  created  a  sensation  before  she  was  presented  to  any 
one.  She  was  so  haughty  and  so  exclusive  that  none  of 
the  many  eligibles  could  even  get  an  introduction. 

Princess  Heloise  was,  of  course,  none  other  than 
Midgie,  transformed  into  a  "lady"  of  dainty  eccentrici- 
ties. Adorned  with  rare  jewels  and  fineries,  she  was  domi- 
ciled in  an  elaborate  suite  of  rooms  in  one  of  Gotham's 
most  fashionable  hotels.  She  really  seemed  quite  regal 
with  her  retinue  of  elegantly  arrayed  servants. 

On  this  night  Princess  Heloise  had  relegated  all  social 

£15 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

ambitions  for  business  and  had  arranged  for  Philip  J. 
Harrison  to  call  at  her  suite,  ostensibly  to  formally  appoint 
him  as  her  counsel.  Harrison  was  as  entirely  unwary  as 
he  was  completely  deceived,  and  he  accepted  her  gracious 
invitation  with  marked  avidity.  In  fact,  he  could  not 
resist  a  longing  to  see  this  princess  about  whom  he  had 
read  so  much. 

He  attired  himself  with  great  care  in  his  best  evening 
clothes  and  soon  afterwards  presented  himself  at  the 
royal  suite  in  a.  state  of  expectant  excitement.  It  was 
his  first  opportunity  to  meet  a  girl  of  royal  blood,  and  he 
hoped  for  a  romantic  adventure,  being  for  the  nonce  quite 
oblivious  to  the  obligation  of  his  betrothal.  He  was 
unaware  of  the  fact  that  Bertha  Grant,  the  girl  he  had 
jilted,  was  responsible  for  all  this  unusual  event,  and 
that  she  was  hidden  in  the  suite  awaiting  his  arrival  with 
more  breathless  anxiety  than  Midgie  could  possibly  mus- 
ter, in  spite  of  her  realization  that  she  was  pursuing  a 
very  exciting  course  for  the  sake  of  her  benefactress. 

Princess  Heloise  received  Harrison  with  charming 
grace.  She  was  highly  trained  for  every  move  she  made. 
Bertha  had  rehearsed  her  countless  times. 

Harrison  was  impressed  at  once  by  the  cultured  man- 
ner of  his  hostess,  and  his  very  first  thought  was  that  she 
was  the  most  beautiful,  most  bewitching  girl  he  had  ever 
seen.  He  felt  sure  his  fiancee  would  never  know  if  he 

216 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

enjoyed  a  little  celestial  romance  with  a  proud  beauty 
who  was  soon  to  leave  the  country  anyway. 

How  well  did  Bertha  Grant  know  Philip  Harrison! 
She  was  convinced  from  the  beginning  that  she  had  lost 
the  man  of  her  heart  because  of  his  fickle  disposition  and 
his  penchant  for  frivolity.  Now  she  was  bent  on  win- 
ning him  back  by  preying  on  that  same  giddiness. 

Princess  Heloise  was  keyed  to  a  high  pitch  for  the 
experience,  and  after  solemnly  conferring  with  the  young 
lawyer  along  business  lines,  she  waxed  delightfully  viva- 
cious, but  not  for  one  instant  did  she  fail  to  be  studiously 
lady-like.  She  led  the  vulnerable  romancer  through  the 
various  stages  of  mad  infatuation  with  all  the  skill  of  the 
most  proficient  siren.  Ere  came  the  moment  for  his  de- 
parture Harrison  was  so  enamored  of  the  girl  that  he 
actually  experienced  difficulty  in  restraining  himself  from 
declaring  his  love.  She  was  elated  with  the  success  she 
was  achieving  as  a  charmer.  It  was  the  first  time  Midgic 
had  ever  undertaken  the  conquest  of  a  high-class  man's 
heart,  and  she  immediately  reasoned  that  her  truly  cyclo- 
nic success  indicated  this  to  be  her  forte. 

When  Harrison  had  left,  after  kissing  the  royal  hand 
fervently  and  lingeringly,  Bertha  Grant  leaped  from  her 
hidmg-place  and  fairly  swept  Midgie  off  of  her  feet  in 
her  enthusiasm  over  her  admirable  conduct. 

"Now  you  can  see  how  easy  it  was   for  another 

217 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

woman  to  win  him  away  from  me,  and  how  easy  it  is  going 
to  be  for  me  to  win  him  back  through  you,"  she  told 
Midgie. 

******** 

The  very  next  evening  Harrison,  after  much  beseech- 
ing, persuaded  Princess  Heloise  to  permit  him  to  call 
again,  and  within  ten  minutes  after  dashing  into  her 
smiling  presence  as  if  overjoyed,  he  proclaimed  his  love 
with  all  the  eloquence  he  could  summon,  and  within  the 
earshot  of  the  hiding  Bertha  he  told  this  erstwhile  woman 
of  the  street  that  he  knew  she  was  the  purest  flower  that 
could  be  gained  by  any  man! 

"You  are  my  very  ideal,  and  I  propose  marriage," 
he  said  as  a  climax  to  his  outpouring. 

"But  I  am  told  you  are  engaged  to  another,"  the 
princess  replied. 

"Yes,  it  is  true ;  but  I  shall  break  off  that  engagement 
at  once,"  he  declared,  forcing  Midgie  into  his  embrace. 

"That  must  be  your  first  step  before  I  can  permit  you 
to  woo  me,"  the  princess  ordered  as  she  firmly  removed 
her  admirer's  arm  from  around  her  waist. 

"It  shall  be  done  tomorrow  for  the  sake  of  true 
love,"  he  assured  her. 

And  when  Harrison  left  that  evening  the  thought 
uppermost  in  his  mind  was  to  lose  no  time  in  jilting  a 
second  woman,  and  thus  remove  the  one  barrier  to  his 

218 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

courtship  of  Princess  Heloise. 

The  very  next  day  Harrison  formally  broke  off  his 
engagement,  receiving  from  his  fiancee  a  broad-minded 
letter  in  which  she  declared  she  had  no  desire  of  tying 
him  down  to  a  matrimonial  match  which  he  was  sure 
would  not  be  happy.  She  accepted  her  fate  as  a  matter 
of  course,  and  she  was  not  heart-broken.  Harrison 
rushed  to  Midgie  with  this  letter,  and  urged  that  she 
accept  him  at  once. 

"Oh,  but  you  must  at  least  grant  me  the  pleasure  of 
a  few  weeks  of  wooing,"  she  laughed. 

"Surely,  I  will  grant  your  every  request,"  he  replied 
gallantly. 

From  this  moment  on,  Harrison's  manner  was  ex- 
ceedingly ingratiating.  He  was  handsome  and  he  was 
cultured.  Besides,  he, possessed  a  striking  personality. 
He  was  quite  too  adept  at  the  art  of  heroic  love-making 
for  the  thoroughly  inexperienced  Midgie,  and  within  a 
very  brief  period  of  time  she  lost  the  mere  spirit  of  fun 
which  had  characterized  her  whole  escapade  up  to  then, 
and  she  suddenly  became  imbued  with  the  idea  that  it 
would  be  a  great  triumph  for  her  actually  to  capture 
Harrison  and  not  shift  him  over  to  Bertha  Grant, .in 
accordance  with  the  latter's  well-laid  plans.  Herein 
trouble  began  to  brew — divergent  motives  clashed,  with 
Bertha  unsuspecting  and  Midgie  designing. 

219 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

While  these  complications  were  accumulating  in  New 
York,  the  erstwhile  East  Side  thug,  now  much  sought  by 
the  police,  was  winning  the  esteem  of  the  townspeople  of 
Excelsior  Springs  by  his  generosity,  his  clean  living  and 
the  zealous  support  he  extended  to  all  civic  and  charita- 
ble projects.  Indeed,  "Kid"  Black  was  really  beginning 
to  live  up  to  his  assumed  name  of  Will  B.  White.  He  was 
"white"  in  all  of  his  dealings  with  his  fellows,  and  it  was 
evident  to  all  who  met  him  that  he  was  earnestly  striving 
to  better  himself  and  make  a  record  worthy  of  admiration. 
He  was  constantly  busy,  and  he  invariably  whistled  gaily 
as  he  kept  at  his  tasks. 

One  of  this  young  man's  most  commendable  acts  was 
to  give  a  huge  picnic  for  the  poor  children  of  the  com- 
munity at  his  own  expense.  He  had  long  since  betrayed 
a  marked  fondness  for  children^  and  the  manifestation 
of  this  inclination  proved  eloquently  that  he  aspired  to 
found  a  family  of  his  own.  His  whole  conduct  being 
above  reproach,  he  was  popular  now,  and  Peggy  Jules  had 
duly  discovered  him  to  be  her  ideal.  In  fact,  she  was 
soon  taking  most  of  the  initiative  in  advancing  the  cause 
of  their  romance,  Black  having  temporarily  let  up  in  his 
suit,  due  to  the  further  development  of  his  conscience 
having  brought  him  to  the  realization  that  he  had  com- 
mitted a  grave  blunder  in  quitting  New  York  in  the  man- 
ner in  which  he  had  selected  so  thoughtlessly.  He  was 

220 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

just  a  little  apprehensive  as  to  what  might  happen  to  him 
as  a  result  of  the  bad  muddle  he  had  left  back  East,  and 
he  had  mustered  sufficient  nobility  to  prefer  remaining 
single  rather  than  to  get  Peggy  implicated  if  he  was  to 
be  harrassed  at  any  time  by  the  law  because  of  his  past 
life.  Intuition  was  at  its  work,,  because  Black  had  no 
inkling  of  the  true  situation  confronting  him.  Of  course, 
he  did  not  confide  in  the  girl  to  the  extent  of  telling  her 
of  all  his  worries.  His  one  strong  desire  was  to  spare 
her  any  regret  or  sorrow.  Naturally  she  could  not  under- 
stand his  seeming  loss  of  enthusiasm  over  her.  Forsooth, 
she  was  quite  worried  about  it.  He  was  mysterious  in 
his  exhortations  against  bothering  about  anything.  At 
times  he  seemed  silently  to  beseech  sympathy,  and  even 
pity. 

"You  act  strange  at  times,  dear,"  she  told  him.  "What 
ails  you?" 

"Nothing  worth  worrying  about,  Peggy,  and  anyway, 
we're  having  a  wonderful  time,  and  are  fast  getting  to  be 
somebody,  so  let's  stay  as  happy  as  we  can,  until  fate  takes 
its  hand  in  the  game,"  he  told  her,  with  an  air  of  intensi- 
fied mystery. 

Black's  attitude  was  certainly  the  result  of  true  premo- 
nition, because  a  few  days  later  City  Marshal  John  Ford, 
in  glancing  over  a  recent  copy  of  The  Detective,  a  publica- 
tion devoted  to  the  apprehension  of  criminals,  was  amazed 

£21 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

to  find  a  picture  of  a  man  who  closely  resembled  the  pop- 
corn and  peanut  vendor  he  knew  as  Will  B.  White. 
Printed  with  this  picture  was  the  following  notice : 

WANTED  FOR  MURDER 
"Kid"  Black,  age  25  years,  height  5  feet  10 
inches,  weight  165  pounds.  Jet  black  hair,  brown 
eyes  and  dark  complexion.  Has  general  appear- 
ance of  a  ruffian.  Five  hundred  dollars  reward 
for  his  capture. 

Marshal  Ford  was  so  astonished  over  his  discovery 
that  he  went  straightway  to  Black's  popcorn  stand  and, 
taking  up  a  position  nearby,  compared  the  face  of  the 
vendor  with  that  of  the  picture.  Being  unobserved  in 
this,  the  officer  kept  his  own  counsel  and  wired  the  New 
York  police  secretly. 

Four  days  later  Robert  Cross,  a  New  York  detective, 
arrived  at  Excelsior  Springs,  and  promptly  arrested 
Black,  announcing  with  plenty  of  officious  show  that  his 
prisoner  was  wanted  for  murder  in  the  first  degree.  This 
startling  event  created  a  terrific  sensation  in  the  summer 
resort,  where  opinion  was  at  once  divided.  Many  of 
those  who  had  come  to  know  Black  best  felt  sure  there 
was  some  mistake — he  had  made  such  a  favorable  impres- 
sion by  his  exemplary  deportment  that  it  was  difficult  to 
believe  he.  had  ever  committed  murder.  There  was  the 

222 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

ever-present  clique  of  skeptics,  who  "always  knew"  the 
fellow  was  a  dangerous  criminal.  Thus  was  the  whole 
town  agog  with  gossip. 

But  there  were  two  persons  who  promptly  came  out 
in  the  open,  and  staunchly  declared  their  undying  belief 
in  "Kid"  Black's  innocence.  These  were  Peggy  Jules  and 
her  employer,  Walter  Frank.  In  a  most  heart-rending 
impromptu  conference  held  at  the  town  calaboose,  Black 
swore  to  both  that  he  was  not  guilty,  and  frankly  told 
them  the  entire  story  of  his  participation  in  the  foul  plot 
in  the  presence  of  Detective  Cross,  who  jotted  down 
notes  as  the  prisoner  talked. 

"I  did  enough  dirty  tricks  in  my  mean  life,  but,  thank 
God,  I  escaped  the  unpardonable  crime  of  taking  another's 
life,"  the  overwhelmed  Black  asserted  with  forcefulness. 

"I  believe  you,  dear — every  word  you  say,  and  I  am 
going  to  stick  by  you  at  any  cost,"  Peggy  announced,  as 
she  smiled  bravely  in  an  effort  to  cheer  up  the  man  she 
loved  more  in  adversity  than  she  had  ever  dared  to  dur- 
ing the  days  of  tranquillity. 

Black  waived  all  extradition  rights,  and  went  back 
to  New  York  with  Detective  Cross,  it  being  agreed  that 
Frank  would  bring  Peggy  on  in  time  for  the  trial.  Black 
assumed  the  attitude  of  resignation  to  fate,  and  he  was 
anxious  to  go  through  with  his  ordeal  as  quickly  as  pos- 
sible, hoping  against  hope  that  some  unseen  force  would 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

arise  in  its  might  to  save  him.  He  was  brave,  though  sad ; 
he  was  really  heroic  and  stoical  with  it.  He  had  the  ad- 
vantage of  a  clear  conscience,  and  he  acted  as  if  he  was 
confident  all  the  world  would  some  day  know  that  he  had 
conquered  himself  in  time  to  avert  the  irrevocable  tragedy 
of  taking  the  life  of  another. 


224 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

CHAPTER  VII. 

NOT  more  than  an  hour  before  extra  editions  of  the 
newspapers  announced  the  capture  of  "Kid"  Black 
to  New  Yorkers,  Midgie,  intoxicated  by  her  wild,  falla- 
cious ambition  to  bask  in  the  sunshine  of  luxury  all  the 
rest  of  her  life,  succeeded  in  eluding  Bertha  Grant  long 
enough  to  "give  in"  to  Phillip  Harrison's  pleadings  for 
a  quick,  secret  marriage.  Yes,  without  a  single  consci- 
entious scruple,  this  little  vampire  double-crossed  the 
trusting  Bertha,  becoming  Mrs.  Philip  J.  Harrison  in  fact. 
and  legally,  even  while  her  benefactress  awaited  her  re- 
turn in  the  hotel  suite.  The  moment  had  arrived  for 
Bertha  to  walk  majestically  onto  the  scene  and  win  Har- 
rison for  her  own.  It  had  come  to  the  final  act  in  the 
clever  little  drama  she  was  enacting,  and  up  to  the  very 
last  all  indications  pointed  to  complete  success  for  her. 
She  had  sent  Midgie  out  with  the  man  she  loved  for  the 
purpose  of  enticing  him  into  imbibing  sufficiently  of  wine 
to  make  him  reckless  and  good-natured  in  order  that  his 
own  frivolity  might  be  exposed  to  him  with  more  safety. 
But  Midgie  disobeyed  orders. 

Bertha  was  still  impatiently  awaiting  the  return  of 
the  couple  when  she  heard  the  newsboys  yelling  "extra," 
and  she  summoned  a  servant  to  secure  a  copy  of  one  of 
the  papers  for  her.  Naturally  she  was  intensely  inter- 
ested in  reading  of  the  news  pertaining  to  "Kid"  Black's 

225 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

arrest.  Midgie  first  heard  of  the  news  as  she  was  return- 
ing with  Harrison  from  the  minister's  home  at  which  they 
had  been  quietly  married.  Consternation  at  once  seized 
her.  She  feared  she  would  be  dragged  into  the  case,  and 
she  did  not  want  to  be  exposed  to  her  husband,  who  was 
entirely  unaware  of  her  past  bad  life. 

"My  darling  husband,  I'm  so  anxious  to  get  started 
on  our  honeymoon.  Let's  go  at  once,"  she  urged  im- 
pulsively. 

"I  shall  be  happy  to  accede  to  your  wishes,  my  dear," 
he  replied.  "If  it  suits  you,  I  will  take  you  back  to  your 
hotel,  and  then  go  to  my  offices  to  wind  up  certain  pend- 
ing business  affairs,  and  we  will  be  free  to  go." 

"No;  you  go  on  to  your  office  and  transact  your  busi- 
ness, and  I  will  go  to  the  hotel  alone,  and  make  my  prepa- 
rations— it  will  save  time,"  she  suggested  eagerly. 

This  request  rather  surprised  Harrison,  but  he  bowed 
to  his  wrife's  will.  He  assisted  her  into  a  taxicab  and  then 
hurried  to  his  offices.  A  half  hour  later  Midgie  arrived 
in  her  suite,  and  found  Bertha  in  anything  but  an  amiable 
mood. 

"Goodness,  you  must  have  taken  your  time  without 
considering  me  in  the  least,"  Bertha  reproved. 

"I  couldn't  help  it,"  Midgie  gasped.    "I'm  ill." 

"Well,  here  is  something  which  will  add  to  your  dis- 
comfort, I  am  sorry  to  say,"  Bertha  said,  handing  her 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

newspaper  to  the  now  faint  girl. 

Midgie  scanned  the  headlines  and,  fortunately,  her 
mind  worked  fast.  Here  was  an  opportunity  to  get  away 
from  Bertha,  and  she  sought  to  take  advantage  of  it  before 
the  latter  could  possibly  demand  a  further  explanation 
as  to  her  failure  to  bring  Harrison  back  to  the  hotel  with 
her,  but  she  failed  in  her  calculation. 

"Where  is  Mr.  Harrison?" 

"Well,  you  see,"  Midgie  gulped,  "this  news  reached 
me  just  as  we  were  entering  the  cafe  for  a  few  drinks, 
and  it  upset  me  so  completely  that  I  had  to  beg  him  to 
excuse  me." 

"Oh,  you  little  simpleton,'"  Bertha  expostulated. 

"I — I — can't  help  it,  Miss  Grant,  I've  got  to  get  out 
of  the  reach  of  the  police  quick,"  Midgie  protested. 

Bertha  was  gullible  enough  to  concede  in  her  own 
mind  that  Midgie  was  actuated  by  motives  of  self-pro- 
tection in  this,  and  she  suddenly  became  slightly  alarmed 
lest  she  might  be  dragged  into  the  case,  too,  as  a  possible 
result  of  being  caught  in  the  company  of  the  woman  who 
was  known  as  Black's  companion.  Consequently  she 
hastened  to  her  own  apartment,  after  making  an  appoint- 
ment to  meet  Mijdgie  later.  Then  the  latter  hurriedly 
packed  a  few  of  her  belongings  preparatory  to  a  flight 
with  Phillip  J.  Harrison. 

Meanwhile  the  first  thing  to  command  Harrison's 

227 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

attention  when  he  arrived  at  his  offices  was  the  following 
telegram : 

Philip  J.  Harrison,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Want  you  to  defend  me  in  my  trial  for  mur- 
der. I'm  an  innocent  man  and  my  case  should 
be  easily  won.  Will  pay  you  any  price  you  set. 
I'm  young  man  who  saved  you  from  hold-up 
that  night  on  Fifth  avenue,  and  to  whom  you 
loaned  fifty  next  day.  See  me  at  the  Tombs 
when  I  arrive. 

"Kid"  Black. 

Harrison  was  visibly  impressed  by  this  telegram.  A 
sense  of  duty  told  him  that  he  must  stay  and  hear  the 
man's  story.  He  was  pondering  over  this  when  he  was 
called  on  the  telephone  by  Bertha  Grant,  who  had  decided 
to  complete  her  work  without  the  further  aid  of  Midgie. 

"I  have  just  learned  of  your  engagement  being 
broken,  and  I  want  to  ask  you  to  do  me  the  honor  of 
visiting  me  and  hearing  what  I  have  to  say  about  the 
misunderstanding  which  has  caused  me  so  much  anguish," 
Bertha  said. 

"I  am  sorry,  but  that  is  impossible,  because  I  have 
just  married  the  famous  Princess  Heloise,"  announced 
Harrison,  suddenly  inspired  with  the  idea  of  convincing 
Bertha  once  for  all  that  he  did  not  love  her. 

228 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

"What !"  she  fairly  screamed  into  the  phone,  causing 
the  man  to  jump  in  astonishment.  "Why,  she's  a  bogus 
princess,  my  maid,  a  former  woman  of  the  tenderloin,  and 
the  mistress  of  'Kid'  Black,  the  gunman  who  is  about  to 
be  tried  for  murder." 

This  broadside  was  hurled  at  Harrison  in  such  con- 
vincing tones  that  he  did  not  even  wait  for  more.  Instead 
he  banged  the  receiver  on  the  hook  and  rushed  post-haste 
to  Midgie's  apartment,  confronting  her  excitedly  and  de- 
manding a  denial  of  the  whole  accusation.  Midgie  was 
just  floundering  around  in  her  great  confusion  for  an 
answer  when  Bertha  Grant  ran  into  the  room,  a  raging 
maniac  in  her  uncontrollable  anger.  The  abruptness  with 
'which  she  had  been  made  to  realize  Midgie's  duplicity 
completely  upset  her  reason  for  the  time  being,  since  that 
duplicity  meant  her  being  deprived  of  the  one  thing  for 
which  she  lived — wedlock  to  the  man  she  loved. 

The  moment  Midgie  espied  Bertha  she  knew  the  time 
had  come  to  fight,  and  she  did,  like  a  cornered  tigress.  At 
this  she  was  adept  and  dangerous.  Her  sense  of  justice 
was  entirely  undeveloped.  She  knew  not  the  meaning  of 
fair  play.  Thus  it  came  to  pass  that  she  armed  herself 
with  a  chair  and  attacked  Bertha  before  an  altercation 
could  possibly  be  started  by  any  one.  Phillip  Harrison  was 
in  the  vortex  of  a  storm  which  he  knew  not  how  to  com- 
bat. He  realized  he  could  not  stand  by  and  see  murdei 

229 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

committed,  and  yet  he  dreaded  to  become  involved  in  a 
rough-and-tumble  fight  with  a  woman — his  legal  wife. 

"Save  me  from  this  terrible  woman,"  Bertha 
screamed  hysterically  at  the  top  of  her  voice. 

The  commotion  started  by  Bertha  alarmed  Harrison 
more  than  the  belligerency  of  Midgie.  He  did  not  wanl 
the  outside  world  attracted,  but  he  was  sadly  confused 
Events  had  crowded  themselves  upon  him  with  such 
rapidity  that  he  was  anything  but  cool. 

"Ladies!"  he  finally  managed  to  exclaim,  in  time  to 
stay  the  advancing  Midgie  momentarily.  "Don't  force 
me  to  regard  you  as  mere  women."  Then  he  confronted 
Midgie  with  his  open  hands  held  out  as  if  to  surrender 
"If  you  must  hurt  any  one,  let  me  be  the  victim,"  he  told 
her. 

"I  don't  want  to  hurt  nobody,  but  I'm  not  going  to 
let  her  or  any  other  dame  hurt  me  either,"  Midgie  de- 
clared. 

"Any  other  dame!"  Harrison  repeated  after  her  in 
surprise.  "Are  these  the  proper  words  for  a  princess !': 

"Princess  me  eye,"  expostulated  Midgie.  "I'm  no 
princess,  and  I'd  a-never  pretended  to  be  if  it  hadn't  been 
for  that  woman's  determination  to  marry  you." 

"And  you — you  took  unfair  advantage  of  an  oppor- 
tunity to  cheat  us  both  ?"  demanded  Harrison. 

"Yes,  who  wouldn't  ?"  the  defiant  little  woman  hurled 

230 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

back  at  the  man. 

Thereupon  Harrison  denounced  her  bitterly. 

"For  perpetrating  such  a  monumental  deception  you 
should  spend  the  rest  of  your  days  in  prison,"  he  yelled. 

"Oh,  I  should  worry,"  was  her  reply,  as  she  placed 
the  chair  on  the  floor,  but  retained  her  grasp  on  it. 

At  this  juncture  of  the  unusual  proceedings  Bertha 
Grant  broke  down  and  wept.  She  was  obviously  heart- 
broken. Her  sobs  interrupted  Harrison  in  his  excoriation 
of  Midgie.  He  contemplated  his  former  fiancee  with 
deliberation,  and  then,  with  his  gaze  fixed  on  the  trem- 
bling form  he  had  often  embraced,  he  walked  leisurely 
to  her.  After  hesitating  a  moment  he  placed  his  hand 
gently  on  her  shoulder.  This  act  on  his  part  brought 
Midgie  out  of  a  near-stupor  like  a  flash.  A  terrible  jeal- 
ousy swept  over  her  whole  being  like  wildfire,  and  she 
ran  across  the  room  like  a  wildcat.  Harrison  met  her 
assault  promptly  and  hurled  her  aside  disdainfully.  She 
'retaliated  just  as  promptly  by  summoning  several  male 
servants. 

"Throw  them  both  out  of  the  place,"  she  ordered 

\Yhen  the  servants  obeyed  a  lively  scuffle  ensued  as 
a  result  of  Harrison's  inclination  to  resist  such  ignomi- 
nious ejection,  but  it  soon  dawned  upon  him  that  his 
chances  of  overcoming  all  the  odds  were  slight,  and  he 
voluntarily  walked  out  of  the  room,  leading  Bertha  by  the 

231 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

hand.  Miclgie  laughed  jeeringly  at  the  couple  all  the 
while.  Her  disconcerting  laugh  followed  them  all  the  way 
down  the  long  hallway. 

Once  alone  Midgie  settled  down  to  laying  plans  for 
turning  her  defeat  into  a  financial  victory,  for  she  was 
wise  enough  to  realize  that  Harrison  could  be  compelled 
to  pay  her  a  pretty  penny  to  get  rid  of  her,  since  she  had 
legal  grounds  on  which  to  stand. 

Meanwhile  Harrison,  now  crestfallen,  took  Bertha 
to  her  apartment,  begged  forgiveness,  and  was  forgiven. 

"I  have  been  a  miserable,  contemptible  fool  ever 
since  I  rejected  the  wonderful  love  you  were  always  ready 
to  give  me,  and  now  I  am  ready  to  make  amends,"  he 
told  her. 

"And  I  am  just  as  ready  as  ever  to  make  any  sacri- 
fice for  you,  dear,"  she  \vhispered  back  anxiously. 

"Then  the  first  sacrifice  I  shall  ask  you  to  make  is  to 
become  my  wife,  and — I  pray  I  can  avoid  making  you 
sacrifice  further  after  the  day  I  hope  to  make  the  happiest 
in  your  life."  he  replied  earnestly. 


232 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

CHAPTER  VIII 

WHEN  "Kid"  Black  was  assigned  to  his  cell  in  the 
Tombs  the  first  thing  he  did  was  to  send  for  Har- 
rison, who  was  now  reluctant  to  respond.  The  tangle 
he  had  gotten  into  obviously  nullified  -the  wisdom  of 
participating  in  the  defense  of  the  reputed  'lover"  of 
"the  woman  of  the  world,"  who  had  inveigled  him  into 
marriage  with  her.  Forsooth,  it  is  doubtful  whether  or 
hot  Harrison  would  have  gone  to  see  Black  at  all  had  he 
not  received  the  following  second  appeal : 

Dear  Mr.  Harrison : 

I'v  heard  about  your  trouble.  Don't  worry, 
old  pal.  I've  got  enough  influence  over  Miclgie 
to  get  a  square  deal  for  you.  I'm  going  to  help 
you  whether  you  help  me  or  not,  because  I  owe 
you  fifty  dollars,  and  I  won't  forget  past  favors. 

"Kid"  Black. 

From  the  hour  of  his  first  visit  to  Black's  cell,  Har- 
rison was  finally  convinced  that  his  client  was  innocent 
and  deserved  his  best  efforts.  Moreover,  he  had  ample 
cause  to  feel  sure  that  Black  was  sincere  in  his  intentions 
of  using  his  influence  over  Midgie  to  curtail  her  sensa- 
tional grafting  activities  as  a  result  of  holding  the  blud- 
geon of  a  marriage  certificate  over  the  lawyer's  head. 
So  it  followed  that  Harrison  became  Black's  attorney  with 

233 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

a  feeling  strongly  akin  to  brotherhood. 

The  day  before  the  trial  Peggy  Jules  and  Walter 
Frank  arrived  in  New  York  and  were  escorted  to  Black's 
cell  just  in  time  to  see  Midgie  leave  it.  Black  had  sum- 
moned Midgie  to  further  use  his  influence  over  her  in 
Harrison's  behalf  by  telling  her  the  lawyer  would  drop 
his  case  cold  and  let  him  be  sent  to  the  electric  chair  if 
he  failed  to  induce  her  to  make  a  satisfactory  financial 
settlement  and  permitted  him  to  get  a  divorce  quietly. 
Midgie's  old  love  for  Black  had  returned,  and  she  at  last 
promised  to  make  a  sacrifice  for  his  sake,  as  she  believed, 
when,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  it  was  more  to  his  harm.  He 
realized  the  chance  he  was  taking,  and  he  knew  full  well 
in  his  own  mind  that  the  one  girl  for  him  was  Peggy  Jules, 
who  now  betrayed  a  marked  jealousy  and  a  feeling  closely 
resembling  chagrin  as  a  consequence  of  what  she  had  seen 
with  her  own  eyes. 

"Who  was  tliat  girl?"  she  demanded,  almost  irritably. 

"I'll  be  perfectly  honest  with  you,  Peggy,"  he  replied, 
looking  her  squarely  in  the  eyes.  "That  is  an  old  friend 
of  mine,  who  recently  married  my  lawyer  by  deceiving 
him,  and  I'm  trying  to  use  my  influence  over  her  for  his 
sake.  I  guess  she  will  expect  me  to  ask  her  to  marry 
me  if  I  ever  get  out  of  this  trouble,  but  I  shall  have  to 
disappoint  her,  because  I  am  going  to  ask  you  to  be  my 
wife." 

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THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

Black  was  so  straightforward  in  this  that  Peggy's 
confidence  in  him  was  decidedly  increased,  and  the 
mutual  love  between  the  two  never  had  run  more  riot. 
Even  the  sombre  setting  of  the  lonely  cell  failed  to  check 
the  romance.  Walter  Frank  was  highly  pleased  by  the 
trend  affairs  took  after  the  threatened  storm,,  and  he 
assumed  the  responsibility  of  buoying  up  the  hopes  of 
both. 

"Now,  kids,  don't  go  to  frettin',  'cause  this  whole 
thing  is  going  to  come  out  all  right,  and  we're  all  going 
back  to  Excelsior  Springs,"  he  said. 

"And  settle  down,"  Peggy  ventured,  catching  the 
spirit  of  optimism  quickly. 

"Yes,"  he  added,  "and  live  happy  ever  after,  just  like 
you've  done  in  so  many  of  my  plays." 

********* 

The  first  day  of  the  trial  Black  found  himself  con- 
fronted in  court  by  Max  Marx  and  "Baldy"  Ruff  and 
numerous  other  gangmen  with  whom  he  was  affiliated 
in  his  old  days  on  the  East  Side.  The  testimony  of  this 
first  day  and  the  second  day  was  all  against  him,  and  the 
State  seemed  to  have  a  comparatively  cle'ar  case,  from 
which  there  was  no  escape  for  him.  All  the  circumstan- 
tial evidence  and  his  well-known  criminal  record  of  the 
past  counted  strongly  in  favor  of  his  prosecution. 

On  the  third  day  Lawyer  Harrison  sprang  a  sensa- 

235 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

tion  by  offering  an  alibi,  based  upon  the  sworn  testimony 
of  Bertha  Grant,  an  ideal  witness  of  unimpeachable 
veracity.  She  told  the  Court  of  her  meeting  with  Black 
in  Central  Park  on  that  unforgotten  night,  and  all  the 
effort  of  the  State  to  shake  her  from  her  unequivocal 
declaration  that  she  knevv  she  was  conversing  with  the 
man  at  the  very  time  the  murder  was  committed  some 
distance  away  proved  unsuccessful.  She  told  of  seeing 
the  defendant  toss  his  revolver  into  the  pond,  after  de- 
ciding against  suicide,  and  later  in  an  impassioned  address 
Harrison  contended  the  truth,  namely,  that  Black  had 
yielded  to  the  command  of  a  newly-awakened  conscience 
at  the  crucial  moment  in  his  life.  This  most  plausible 
theory  made  a  profound  impression  upon  the  jury,  and 
when  Harrison  abruptly  rested  his  case  on  the  alibi  evi- 
dence, the  State's  attorneys  were  taken  entirely  unawares. 
Two  hours  later  "Kid"  Black  was  acquitted,  and  in 
the  scenes  of  rejoicing,  of  which  he  was  the  centre,  there 
were  two  serious  clashes  between  women.  The  first 
occurred  when  Midgie  sought  to  interfere  with  Peggy 
Jules,  who,  out  of  sheer  joy,  kissed  Black.  Before  there 
was  time  to  clear  this  up  Bertha  Grant  clashed  with 
Midgie  in  making  her  way  to  Black  for  the  purpose  of 
congratulating  him.  She  had  seen  Midgie's  belligerent 
move  towards  Peggy,  and  she  determined  to  prevent  the 
upsetting  of  another  dream  of  romance. 

236 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

"You  disreputable  little  ingrate,  don't  you  dare  pre- 
sume the  right  to  estrange  this  couple,  too,"  Bertha  yelled 
at  Midgie  as  she  confronted  her.  "You  humiliated  me 
without  mercy,  and  now  I  expose  you  without  mercy. 
It's  an  eye  for  an  eye  and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth." 

"Go  on  and  start  something  and  see  where  I  knock 
you  to,"  Midgie  yelled  back,  assuming  a  dangerously 
antagonistic  attitude,  but  at  this  point  court  officers  took 
a  hand  and  hustled  Midgie  out  of  the  room. 

Previously  Black  had  delivered  to  Harrison  an  agree- 
ment of  annulment  of  marriage,  duly  signed  by  Midgie, 
who,  in  turn,  had  received  $1000  in  cash. 

"The  agreement  is  part  payment  of  the  fee  I  owe 
you,"  Black  said. 

"It's  payment  in  full,  my  friend ;  you  do  not  owe  me 
a  cent,"  was  the  grateful  Harrison's  reply. 

Later  the  lawyer  went  his  way  with  Bertha  Grant, 
while  Midgie  returned  to  her  old  haunts  and  celebrated 
by  going  on  a  big  spree.  She  was  the  result  of  taking 
the  wrong  advantage  of  ambition. 

"Kid"  Black  celebrated  his  legal  victory  by  wedding 
Peggy  Jules  the  day  following  the  acquittal.  Walter 
Frank  was  the  witness  at  the  ceremony,  and  he  gave  a  big 
dinner  in  honor  of  the  happy  couple.  At  this  dinner  the 
question  of  a  name  came  up  for  serious  discussion. 

"Now  that  you've  proved  that  you  are  what  your 

237 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

name  says  you  would  be,  Will  B.  \Vhite,  why  don't  you 
change  it  again  and  start  all  over?"  Frank  suggested. 

"Yes,  since  you  are  the  first  and  only  one  of  your 
family,  so  far  as  any  one  knows,  you  are  at  liberty  to 
adopt  any  name  you  choose,  dear,"  Peggy  put  in. 

"You  know,"  continued  Frank,  "I  like  your  right 
name,  Peggy." 

"Have  you  got  another  name  ?"  Black  asked  in  some 
surprise. 

"Yes;  Jules  is  only  my  stage  name — I  am  really 
Peggy  Fanning." 

"Fanning!  By  Jove,  I  like  that  name.  Let  me  see, 
now  that  we  are  married  we  will  start  a  new  clan.  Why 
shouldn't  I  become  Fanning  Newclan?" 

"Fine!"  the  girl  exclaimed.  "Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fanning 
Newclan — that  sounds  promising." 

"Great!  It's  absolutely  great!  Congratulations  to 
the  Newclans,"  Frank  exclaimed  jovially. 

At  the  end  of  the  first  year  thereafter  there  was  a 
new  baby  in  the  Newclan  home  at  Excelsior  Springs,  and 
the  new  clan  was  formally  started  with  a  lusty  zest.  By 
going  into  co-partnership  with  Walter  Frank,  Newclan 
had  been  able  to  launch  himself  into  the  printing  and 

238 


THE    FIRST    OF    HIS    FAMILY 

newspaper  business,  and  he  was  prospering.     He  was  also 
fast  becoming  an  influential  citizen. 

Thus  triumphed  the  erstwhile  thug,  all  and  only  be- 
cause Conscience  had  joined  hands  with  Ambition  at  the 
psychological  moment. 

THE  END. 


239 


HBBBMB 


